Spectres of the Forgotten
by Daniel DeCobray
Summary: At the final battle of the fourth great shinobi war, Naruto subdued the ten tails but at a great price. He then found himself in the far future where he met the Cullens. Years later he decided to move to Forks along with them. Strange things began to occur which may reveal the truth of what happened in the past so he decided to investigate.
1. Chapter 1: The Awakening

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the stories.**

 **PROLOGUE**

The sun has once more shined with the luster of its prime and life has once again begun to sprout from the erstwhile blood drenched and barren soil. The human race, it would seem has weathered and almost forgotten the terrible wars waged by their ancestors in the distant past that threatened their very existence; though by some peculiar twist of fate, has also united them as a single species and triumphed upon the malign and great entities that seek to smother their flame. Or so they say. As time passed by, legends became the accepted truths; paradoxically, as humanity developed and advanced, these so called accepted truths has become legends once more.

It is intriguing how the age of the shinobi came to its untimely end, almost 10,000 years ago. Naruto Uzumaki, the greatest hero known to this era has vanished without a trace at the conclusion of the fourth great shinobi war. Grand and majestic monuments of him was commissioned and erected in the heart of every hidden village not only to commemorate his valor but to serve as a potent inspiration to all aspiring ninjas. Though people can't help but wonder what happened to the young shinobi. It was a general conjecture that he, along with the rest of the allied shinobi forces has perished, sacrificing their lives to subdue and seal the ten-tailed beast. However, there are some who believe that he is still alive and will return once more when his people needed him most. The truth, however, is a bitter pill to swallow for he never came back. Not in this timeline at least.

A mysterious plague then swept the land like lighting from a cloudless sky, killing countless in its wake. Soon war broke between the survivors competing for resources. Cities and settlements were razed and civilization began to decline and rapidly devolve, the earth was painted red from the menagerie of violent deaths. What happened next, however, is even grimmer. An unknown series of cataclysms occurred that shattered and sunken the elemental nations beneath the unforgiving ocean. Entombing all but a few of its denizens in a watery mausoleum.

The handful of survivors fled to distant lands where they encountered and interacted with the primitive locals. With their knowledge of chakra and more advanced sciences like metallurgy and medicine, they uplifted these primitives and their descendants ruled over them as kings. However, as decades passed, a new problem arose that effectively erased the legacy and all but a few signs of the Elemental nations.

For reasons unknown, the chakra levels of subsequent generations is gradually dampening and thus their children and their children's progeny has become weaker overtime. They attempted to rectify this by crafting technological devices meant to amplify their existing chakra and by carefully managing their gene-pool through selective marriages and later on inbreeding but to no avail. Chakra has continuously diminished until it became no longer existent. Furthermore, all knowledge, memory and records of the survivors and their descendants literally ceased to exist as time continued to flow. As if it was the sublime machinations of a great and terrible power who by reasons known only to itself, willed them to fade from existence. All that remained of their legacy are the chakra focusing artifacts they crafted eons ago which was discovered later on by modern archeologists and dismissed as meager works of art or ceremonial contrivances, not knowing its higher purpose.

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"Naruto" A calm and mysterious voice whispered

Naruto found himself in a dark and eerie environment. The only thing breaking the silence is what seemed to be the sound of dropping water and an unseen flowing river.

"Who…are you? What is this place? Am I dead?" Naruto asked in bewilderment

"I am Hagoromo Otsusuki and we are in your dream, within the depths of your subconscious mind" the voice said in an astute tone as he revealed himself to be the sage of six paths.

"The war-the **Jubi**! I must…" Naruto said frantically, recollecting his predicament before the dream.

"It is too late for that my child. Almost ten millennia has passed since then" the sage explained to Naruto which startled the blond shinobi in to disbelief.

"No that's impossible! I was there! I just passed out a few minutes-hours at the most that's all!" Naruto protested in incredulity for what the sage said to him makes no sense. Then memories of the final battle flashed in to his head "The ten tails…..was sealed within me" he muttered as reality finally trickled in.

"Yes. You are now the **jichuriki** of the one-eyed god. You must use its power wisely. Though, I'm afraid that what I have told you is no less than the truth" The sage exclaimed in a solemn tone.

"And you waited this long to tell me that old man? Why?" Naruto inquired in anguish with a sorrow filled voice and a trace of brewing rage.

"A dark god barred me from this sphere. He is immensely powerful, I was no match. I am only able to form a connection with you just now because he is temporarily distracted for some reason. I fear that it won't last; even as we speak I can sense that he's already aware of my presence and soon he will banish me once more. But before he could, I have decided to transfer my remaining power to you. You shall once again be the protector of mankind" Hagoromo said in a calm and philosophical tone as he proceeded to gift Naruto his remaining power.

The sage brought his hands together and placed them in to Naruto' forehead then proceeded to transferred his chakra, wisdom and an aspect of his personality to guide the young shinobi in his tasks. Naruto felt a warm sensation as the power of the great sage flowed within him and revitalized his body. A golden shroud of chakra began to engulf him. Then it formed in to a light gold colored coat with a dark colored 'bodysuit' that covers of his torso underneath (or that's what it superficially looks like), reaching down to his arms and to his knuckles, and down his legs, stopping just above his sandals which also changed color. A light colored circle appeared where his seal was placed, as well as golden magatama markings on his collar. Subsequently, truth seeking balls began to form. They were orbs of black malleable chakra the size of a fist and containing all five nature transformations and yin-yang release.

"Cool" Naruto amusedly exclaimed as he held out his hand and a truth seeking ball hovered above it. "What should I do now?" he then queried the sage, unsure of how he'll proceed.

"First you must wake up" The sage resonded with a smile as he slowly fades and vanished.

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(Bimini Island - 1855)

Faintly glowing, rippled-purple eyes slowly opened. Naruto looked around and although it is pitch black his eyes were perfectly capable of perceiving the environment. He found himself in an underground cavern of glossy obsidian riddled with clusters of hexagonal crystal stalagmites and stalactites, and a series of interconnected subterranean rivers coursed within the natural edifice. The sound of the flowing streams, along with the rhythmic falling drops of water from the crystal stalagmites created a pleasing harmonic melody.

" **Shinra Tensei!** " Naruto instinctively exclaimed with a strong commanding voice. A huge shockwave of repelling force emanated from his body and smashed in to the rocks above him like a giant's hammer. This created a large geyser of dust and rubble that was spotted by a passing steam ship, the Isabel, who was on her route to England after a largely unsuccessful expedition from the southern Americas.

Naruto emerged from the crater and incoherently limped for some distance before he collapsed from the strain of activating his **Rinnengan** for the first time and the stupor caused by suddenly unleashing vast amounts of chakra after his millennia long inertness.

"Sir there is some kind of explosion on the island" A crewman peering on a spy glass yelled

A man named William Kennedy, who is the head of the said expedition took his spy glass and peered in it seeing an expanding cloud of dust akin to that elicited by barrels of gunpowder that has been lit. He decided to investigate and gave the order. "Captain, turn starboard in to that island and instruct your men to prepare the boats"

"Aye sir!" The captain concurred and began cascading orders to the rest of his crew.

The Isabel seemed to bristle with life as her crew was roused to activity. The helmsman turned the ship starboard and headed to the island as ordered. While others of the crew prepared to lower the jollyboats to ferry people once they get in to a sufficient proximity to the island.

An exploration team was assembled to investigate the mysterious explosion. Leading it was William Kennedy himself and a rather stout Spanish gentleman named Gaspard Villalobos, who's also the ship's first mate and second in command. Once the jollyboats hit shore they instantly noticed Naruto lying senseless on the beach.

"It's just a young lad, no older than my boy" said by a middle aged crewmen as they approached and got a closer inspection of the shinobi

"Maybe one of the locals?" a relatively naïve crewman inquired

"Nay. He doesn't look like it" The first replied

"The boy's features are distinctly Caucasian, and the clothes he's wearing…..well I never seen the likes of it before. He could be a survivor from a shipwreck; this part of the world is known for its sporadic and unpredictable storms after all." Gaspard Villalobos mused as he tried to deduce the predicament that befallen the golden haired boy.

"Bring him to the ship. Let's save our questions when he wake up" William Kennedy said looking at the unconscious Naruto.

Naruto was carried in one of the jollyboat and transported back to the Isabel while the rest of the crew stayed on the island to investigate. They found nothing unusual except a fairly large crater, the size of a house.

"Found anything interesting sir?" The captain greeted William Kennedy as he returned and board the ship

"Non, save for a depression caused by the earlier explosion we've witnessed. What of the boy?"

"Our guest has regained consciousness though he's still quite weak, Dr. Newton said he will be fine but would need a few days to regain his strength"

"Very well" William Kennedy nodded to the captain

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(Steam Ship Isabel – The Next Day)

After some hours of rest Kenneddy and Villalobos decided to give their guest a visit

"How is he doctor?" Villalobos inquired

"It's amazing. He shouldn't even be able to stand at this state but it appears that he has fully recuperated in just a short amount of time." Dr. Michael Newton, a lanky, blond haired Englishman said astounded at how fast Naruto has recovered. He later migrated to the US and settled in California a few years after the expedition. He is Mike Newton's great-grandfather.

"You boy, what is your name?" Kennedy inquired in a calm but stern tone

Naruto looked at him with a bemused stare and began speaking in the language of the Elemental nations of which non them could understand.

"Ya' know I appreciate you taking care of me and all but can someone please tell me where the hell am I?" Naruto said with a bit of bewilderment in his face

"Did anyone caught any of that?" A perplexed crewman inquired

"We can't comprehend a thing he's saying and apparently he can't understand our language either" Dr. Newton exclaimed

"It sounds very much like Japanese" Villalobos speculated, his hand rubbing his chin.

"I didn't know you speak the orient" The captain said in amusement

"Oh I'm quite fluent at it. You see, there's this beautiful Japanese girl I met in Manila when I was but a young lad serving as a cabin boy for a merchant galleon, several years ago. She taught me a few words and a few more other things if you know what I mean. Villalobos reminisced in a jolly tone that made him and the rest of the crew burst in a roaring belly laugh.

"Then talk to him" Kennedy instructed the Spaniard with an impassive face.

So Villalobos did as he was ordered and started speaking in a heavily accented Japanese, asking the boy his name.

Modern Nihongo is a linguistic evolution of the more archaic language of the Elemental nations and thus Naruto found it to be only partially intelligible but he caught enough words to deduce his enquirer's question.

"Naruto" He replied pointing a finger to himself.

"What did he say" Kennedy queried

"I think he said his name is Naruto" Villalobos replied, uncertain.

"Very well then Mr. Naruto, welcome to the Isabel" Kennedy exclaimed, extending his arm for a handshake.

Though he couldn't understand the strange man in front of him, Naruto knew that he is extending a gesture of friendship and so he responded. But as soon as their hands made contact, Naruto, through his latent six paths sage power has inadvertently gazed in to the mind of William Kennedy and saw what the latter saw in his lifetime and learned much from it, including the English language.

"Whoa! What was that?" Naruto said in English as he recovered from the confounding experience.

"I thought he couldn't speak English" The captain said more suspicious than confused.

"I do now" Naruto shrugged dumbfounding everyone. As to how he did it he never told them.

Days have passed and the crews' suspicion of the shinobi has eventually quelled. He befriended them and using the knowledge he gained from William Kennedy's mind, Naruto fabricated a story to satisfy their curiosity. He told them that he was in the service of a merchant ship, acting as a translator. One day, as their ship was on route to Acapulco a violent storm appeared out of nowhere, battering them with violent winds and colossal waves. The last thing he remembered was a large waterspout approaching their vessel, violently reaping its fore-sail and breaking a mast before he felt a debris struck his head and blacked out.

Everyone who heard his story became pale and felt their blood curdled as the horrific account is nothing short of every seafarer's nightmare. They pitied Naruto but at the same time felt a huge pride for him as it's quite rare indeed to see what he saw and live to tell the tale.

Months have passed and the Isabel reached London. Naruto decided to explore this new world and learn everything he could from it. He bid farewell to the crew of the Isabel and thanked them once more for the kindness they showed him.

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Years have passed and Naruto learned the existence of curious creatures living in the sewers of London. They look like ordinary men and women, but much paler. They have cold skin, red eyes and fed on the blood of humans to sustain their own damned existence. He decided to observe this cloistered beings and study them and their behavior. It seemed that their reflexes and agility are much faster than what modern humans are able see. They also have sharper and more attuned senses designed to track and predict their prey like apex predators. According to the stories he heard, these undead beings are called vampires; they subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, specifically their blood. When it became clear to Naruto that these vampires were beyond any help and are a threat to the people living above he decided to destroy them as humanely as possible with powerful fire jutsus.

Curiously, he also discovered that some of these vampires have special abilities like telepathy and lesser element manipulation (though these abilities are inferior and less versatile compared to those possessed by any given jonin or talented chunin). He hypothesized that these rare individuals may have been descended from the shinobis who survived the destruction of the Elemental nations; and the same process that turned them in to undead beings may have also awakened the latent powers of their lineage.

He became much engrossed studying these creatures for he thought that they would be the key to unlock the elusive mysteries of the past. His quest has led him to travel all over the known world and beheld strange and fascinating things and beings alike. Such of these are the feral werewolves that reminded him so much of the Inuzuka clan, Kiba and Akamaru in particular.

On one of his travels to Italy he encountered a vampire named Carlisle Cullen who he found interesting for he is unlike the rest of his kind. This vampire prefers to drink animal blood. This is due to his belief that it's much more humane than drinking the blood of humans, thereby killing them.

He revealed himself to the Carlisle who found him equally fascinating as well; for the latter never saw the kind of immortality Naruto has. They became good friends and in time Naruto told him the truth about himself and how he acquired his immortality. He told him about how the ten-tails sealed in him supercharged the longevity and regenerative abilities of his Uzumaki lineage to the point of agelessness and immortality. Any damage he sustains (which requires an immensely powerful force) instantly neat up within moments as if it was never inflicted on the first place. He no longer needs to eat nor drink for nourishment due to the fact that he passively absorbs and assimilate nature energy that fuels him, though he does eat food nonetheless for the pleasure of it and because it reminds him of his humanity.

Years have passed yet again and Carlisle decided to move to the new worlds, feeling that there's nothing more for him left in Europe and citing the possibilities of a new and more prolific life in the Americas. Soon after, Naruto decided to migrate as well.

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(Late 1800s – Texas)

It was in the apex of the southern vampire war that Naruto landed on the shores of the United States. He traveled for a while then decided to settle in Pleasanton, a sleepy little community at the time, south of San Antonio. The town is indeed true to its name for he found the weather and the simple folks living there to be no less than pleasant.

"I can get used to this" he said with a smile on his face while basking in the gentle rays of the autumnal sun.

He had settled in town for about four years and a half now, and built a cozy and lofty house near what is now known today as Ruby hill. Though he occasionally sends his shadow clones far and wide to investigate. Everybody knows him as the luckiest young prospector on the face of the earth for he always came back in town from his numerous yearlong expeditions with a satchel full of gold. In reality the gold is a product of a **Jutsu** he developed by combining **Earth Element Transformation** and **Magnet Release Chakra** to mystically extract any kind of metal from crude ores and later on he became so proficient at the technique that he was able to extract metal such as gold to its purest form on the very landscape he is standing on.

Young women would always blush and giggle at the sight of him for he is the most eligible bachelor in town. This is not only in part due to his extraordinary good looks but also because of his affluence. Though people can't help but wonder why hadn't he found himself a wife or at the very least doesn't hire any domestic help; he is a wealthy man after all and frugality isn't really a mandatory virtue, furthermore his residence is quite sizable and maintaining it would require a servant or two. To all who curiously asked him such questions he just responded that he values his privacy and enjoy living a bachelor's life.

One winter night he encountered a group of vampires who killed a local man. Three of them were new-borns and the last one is a blond male wearing a confederate uniform, his skin covered with scars from past battles; though this scars are normally invisible to humans they are his dominant features when viewed by others with supernatural eyesight. Not only did Naruto instantly scrutinized the fact that he is the leader of the group but also discerned the vampire's somewhat slight hesitation to kill humans.

As soon as they noticed Naruto, the new-born vampires attacked without hesitation as they thought him as another easy meal. The shinobi then proceeded to efficiently dispatched them all in a split second save for the leader who is now awestricken for he never encountered any creature let alone a human being able to do that.

"Say, what's your name soldier?" Naruto said

"Jasper Whitlock" the vampire responded.

Naruto found him quite amusing, similar to when he first met Carlisle. To Jasper's surprise, Naruto did not only spare his life that night but also offered him another option to live. He found this difficult to believe and it confounded him. He retreated back to his coven and never told anyone what happened that night.

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Naruto has lived a peaceful and blissful life in that sleepy town but alas, it's time to move on. Less than pleasant gossips and rumors about him are quickly spreading and the superstitious townsfolk has made themselves scarce in his presence for they have scrutinized some truth from the malicious whispers; such as the fact that he didn't look a day older since he first set foot on Pleasanton, more than a decade ago. He decided to sell his estate and move north but before he left, he cast a powerful **Genjutsu** on the townspeople that made them believe that nothing is amiss.

He then heard stories of Quileute shape-shifters that can transform in to wolves at will so he went in search of them but ended up slightly disappointed after he found out that the transformation process is some sort of defensive response. This means that their lycanthrope shifting ability could only be initialized by having a vampire present to trigger it on a genetic level, but for generations such creatures has not been seen and the last remaining Quileute elder who have the power to transform is on his deathbed. Interestingly, he found out that once activated they can consciously control their shifting and are aware of their actions while in wolf form unlike werewolves who can only transform at the phase of the full moon and on the process loses their self-awareness in lieu of bloodthirsty feral rage.

Another 26 years swiftly passed, seemingly like a feather that has fallen from the wings of a soaring falcon. During this interim Naruto has traveled all around the world and studied in the most respected universities and under the most preeminent intellectuals the sciences of archeology, biology and genetics (a relatively new kind of discipline at the time) as well as the contemporary theories of evolution of that period. Though it is not in his character to seek answers in the academe, the wisdom and aspect of Hagoromo Otsusuki embedded on the totality of his personality has discerned it necessary to further his search for answers.

Unfortunately things took a turn for the worst as his theory regarding the shape-shifters transformation and the special abilities of some vampires has been unfounded. He discovered that these gifts are wrought through evolutionary mutations or may be entirely supernatural in some cases but has no connection to **Kekkei Genkai** nor **Chakra** , thus ruling-out the possibility that they are descendants of survivors from the **Elemental nations**.

This had depressed and disheartened the shinobi so much and was about to give up on his hopes when he encountered an old friend on one of his travels to Washington. It was Carlisle; they haven't seen each other for roughly 60 years now. To Naruto's surprise, Carlisle has some company with him. He introduced the shinobi to Esme, Edward, Rosalie and Emmet; it would seem that all this time he found himself a new family. Interestingly, Jasper, the vampire he encountered and decided to spare in the past is now a member of Carlisle's coven along with his mate, Alice. Jasper was equally surprised seeing the shinobi again and knowing that he and Carlisle knew each other.

Naruto was then further flabbergasted when Carlisle suddenly invited him to be a member of his family, which he graciously accepted. Though, he found it a little bit amusing to pose as Carlisle's adopted son due to the fact that he is technically thousands of years older than him.

"Naruto Cullen huh? I don't know. It sounds a little weird ya' know" Naruto hummed with a stoic face.

"Well we could always go with any name you see fit old friend" Carlisle chuckled

"Naruto Uzumaki. I want to use the name my parents gave me to honor the legacy of the elemental nations and so that it would always remind me of my heritage and my quest." Naruto exclaimed with the will of fire burning in his eyes.

"It's settled then. Welcome to the family Naruto Uzumaki." Carlisle said with a gentle smile

The shinobi felt elated and his depression was partially appeased from the unexpected serendipity, it reminded him of the nostalgic bliss of having friends and family once more.

 **End**

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 **AN: Hi there folks! I hope you enjoyed reading.**

 **This is the first time I wrote a fanfic or anything else for that matter since highschool. I've been reading some fanfics and short stories for several months now and decided to take a shot and write one of my own. So basically I wanted to write a Naruto-Twilight crossover with some elements of C'thulhu mythos and other literary works to supplement the plot. I hope I wouldn't disappoint you folks.**

 **In this chapter Naruto woke up from what he thought to be just a few hours of being unconscious but realized that he has been in hibernation for 9,885 years. Also I thought I would expound on the events that occurred before he met the Cullens.**

 **What really happened to the elemental nations and the shinobi world as a whole will be gradually revealed as the story develops and as we progress to the subsequent chapters.**

 **Please tell me what you think and I also would highly welcome any suggestions to improve it.**

 **See you next chapter**

 **Cheers!**


	2. Chapter 2: A Lucid Dream

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the stories.**

Time has continued to flow like a stream and everyone and everything around has aged and withered save for the immortals who remained unchanged and unspoiled by its touch.

The Cullens made their abode in Alaska for quite a while, alongside with a coven of kindred vegetarian vampires, the Denali Coven. Due to the similarities in diet and philosophy they co-existed peacefully and became great friends and allies to the point that they even considered themselves an extended family of one another. However, due to these parallels and along with their combined numbers, they began to attract the attention of other vampires, the most dangerous ones in particular. The Volturi has become increasingly suspicious of the potential threat they may pose and has issued their _concern_ with a subtle but stern warning. The only thing preventing the predominant coven from swiftly taking action is the healthy fear they developed from witnessing Naruto dispose several of their guards with ease years ago, and his warning that they will suffer the same fate if they ever crossed his path.

The Cullens nonetheless decided to move back to Forks in order to avoid further conflict. They knew that Ephraim and the rest of his pack are long dead when they moved back. Though, they still chose to honor the treaty they made in the past and stayed away from Quileute lands.

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(Washington - 2010)

It was drizzling when Bella landed on Port Angeles. The rather gloomy weather gave her a creeping nostalgia of bright-warm Arizona but has already come to terms and said her goodbyes to the sun when she decided to move. She saw Charlie, still in uniform, waiting for her as she got off the plane.

" _He must have just left work."_ Bella thought

In the Olympic peninsula of the state of Washington, under a near constant cover of clouds and rain, there is a small town named Forks, Population 3,120 people. Here is where she's moving. The drive was fairly lengthy and there was an uncomfortable silence between them. Bella's eyes were animate, observing the pristine and unspoiled green environment of his new home but her sight never dared venture to the driver's seat where Charlie is gawkily thinking of a good topic to start a conversation with his daughter.

"Your hair got longer" Charlie said, finally breaking the awkward silence.

"I've cut it since last you saw me" Bella responded.

"Well, I guess it grew out again" Charlie said gawking as he continued to drive.

Finally they've arrived. Bella got off from the car, it was freezing but nonetheless she took a moment to gaze at a familiar sight. Charlie's house hadn't change at all. It will be her new home, she remembered that she used to spend two weeks there almost every summer, but it has been years.

She turned back to Charlie who was having a little trouble unloading her suitcase from the car, but finally managed to before she could help him.

As Bella entered her room the first thing she saw was the purple bed cover. Charlie seemed to notice her daughters' distraction as she stared quite peculiarly on the plum colored linens.

"The sales lady picked the uhmm…the bed stuff. You like purple right? Charlie asked, rather uncomfortably.

"Purple's cool. Thanks Dad" Bella replied that gave Charlie much relief as he made his way downstairs.

One of the best things about Charlie is that he doesn't hover and respected her daughter's privacy. Bella, being used to her mother's eccentric perceptiveness saw this as a refreshing novelty. Even though they hardly talk, the two know for a fact that they cared deeply for each other.

Bella sat down on her bed thinking of the life she left in Arizona for Forks. As nostalgia and glum began to trickle in, she felt a longing for the dry air and warm sunlight she was accustomed to. Suddenly she heard noises and a car blowing its horn outside. Looks like they have some visitors.

She saw a middle aged man in a wheel chair wearing a hat and was being pushed up the drive by a good looking boy just a couple of years younger than she is. The latter had long-glossy black hair, russet skin and dark eyes that set deep above the high planes of his cheekbones. Though, He still had just a hint of childish roundness left around his chin.

"Bella you remember Billy Black" Charlie introduced her to the man in the wheelchair.

"Yeah. You're looking good" Bella replied with a smile as she shook the hands of Billy.

"Well, I'm still dancing. Im glad you're finally here. Charlie here hasn't shut up about it since you told him you're coming" Billy wittily said that made Charlie a bit embarrassed about it.

"Alright, keep exaggerating. I'll roll you in to the mud" Charlie shrugged

"After I ram you in to the ankle" Billy bombastically replied that made the two grown men play around boisterously in a mock fight.

The boy laughed at the two then turned her attention to Bella.

"Hi I'm Jacob. We used to make mud pies when we're little" The boy said with a friendly smile as he introduced himself.

"Right…I remember" Bella replied with a half-smile "Are they always like this?" she then inquired looking at both Billy and Charlie jauntily roughhousing like immature boys.

"It's getting worse with old age" Jacob said that made both of them laugh.

"So, what do you think?" Charlie said as he walked towards them.

"What?" Bella queried, confused.

"Your homecoming present" Charlie responded while leaning on a red truck that has been parked in the drive.

"This?" Bella replied astonished. Her eyes sparkled with joy like that of a little girl.

"Just bought it from Billy here" Charlie said

"Yep" Billyseconded

"I totally rebuilt the engine for you" Jacob supplied

"Oh my gosh…this is perfect" Bella was more than delighted and has a big smile on her face.

She was quite excited and decided to take her new ride for a test run. It would seem that the sunless day has as just lighten up and everything at that point was perfect, save for Jacob's right knee who Bella accidentally hit with the door when she got on the truck.

"I told you she'll love it. I'm down with the kids" Billy said with a teen-like swagger.

"Oh yeah dude. You're the bomb" Charlie retorted with a deadpan face and in a sarcastic tone

"Ok, listen. You got to double pump the clutch when you shift, but besides that, you should be good" Jacob enthusiastically instructed Bella with the subtle complexities of her new machine.

"That's this one"

"Yeah, yeah, right there"

"Alright, so do you want a ride to school or something?" Bella offered in a hopeful tone

"Oh, I go to school on the reservation" Jacob said. He felt a sorry after seeing her face reformed from extremely happy to a little blue.

"Right, right, that's too bad. It would have been nice to know one person" Bella said in a gloomy tone, her face emanating a trace of slight frustration.

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It was raining. The landscape was littered with the bodies of slain shinobi. Their blood mixed with the rain water that cascaded from the mountains like a river, painting the landscape in bright gushing crimson. They've all sacrificed their lives to give Naruto and Sasuke enough time to seal the rampaging **Jubi**.

" **Kirin!** " Sasuke yelled activating the jutsu. Thunder crackled from the storm clouds above as an immense dragon made of lightning formed. He then guided it to its target, engulfing the ten tails in a bright thunderous flash.

" **Sage Art: Lava Release Rasenshuriken!** " Naruto and innumerable of his shadow clones synergized their attack with Sasuke creating hundreds of dilating vortexes of lightning enhanced infernal cyclones that would vaporize an entire city in a blink of an eye.

It was a spectacular sight. Their combined jutsus shattered half of the mountain range the size of Manhattan and reduced to dust anything within ground zero, creating a multi-mile wide smoldering crater. The beast however, appears relatively unharmed as it emerged still crackling with arcs of lightning and molten rock dripping from its unscathed hide.

"Now!" Both of the shinobi roared as they fold their hands in to seals and simultaneously slammed their palms in to the beast that activated an extremely powerful **fuinjutsu** which would seal it forever. The **Jubi** screeched as the sealing formula spread all over its body and began to enclose and confine the mighty beast.

"It's over. We-" Sasuke coldly said but was cut of short when he felt a sharp pain on his chest. The **Jubi** has traded a final parting shot. One of its tails has pierced his back all the way through his chest like a spear, impaling the Uchiha.

"Naru-to" Sausuke barely muttered in a weary voice. Blood gushed from his mouth as he collapsed to the ground, the life in his eyes slowly faded and he ceased to be. Though, he died with a smile on his face knowing that he honorably fought side by side, until the very end with whom he considered to be the nearest thing he had to a best friend.

Naruto was paralyzed with overwhelming grief. Unable to say nor do anything, tears fell from his azure eyes as he saw his childhood friend lay cold in the dirt and shattered rocks. Sasuke's blood dripped from his wounds in to the hidden leaf crest of the now misshapen forehead protector that he had secretly kept and always carried with him since he defected from Konoha. Naruto then let out a cry of pure and undiluted anguish that echoed and reverberated in to the nearby rock formations like a requiem of melancholy.

He stared in to the heavens asking for answers. "Why?" is the only word he was able to mutter.

His glum musing was suddenly distracted by a radiating colossal ball of energy. The sealing has been all but completed; all it needs is a container to be the **Jubi's jinchuriki**. The fuinjutsu then latched itself to Naruto due in part from being its caster and the fact that he was the only living being left in the vicinity. The process was profoundly excruciating, like being cut and burned by tens of thousands of red hot knives at the same time. The agonizing ordeal, coupled with the weariness of battle has made Naruto blackout and lose consciousness. But before the light completely left his eyes, he saw a surreal figure perched on a nearby precipice as if it was spectating the events unfold with amusement and curiosity. It has diaphanous wings made from streams of light that fluttered in to the air and is engulfed by a cloak of fiery energy that seemed to make the strange creature shimmer like a quivering bowstring. It's all that he could remember before darkness overtook him in its pitch black embrace.

Naruto's eyes snapped open and found himself in his room. He hadn't had that dream for a long time now. Thousands of years have passed but the pain still felt like it has just been freshly inflicted.

He got off from his bed and brooded in a corner for what seemed to be an eternity. Suddenly, a phantasmagoria of the bustling streets of Konoha flashed in his mind. He vividly recalled that one particular day at Ramen Itchiraku: it was a fairly sunny day, they've just returned from the land of spring after completing a rather extraordinary mission. Teuchi and Ayame was busy tending with more customers than usual, and the streets were filled with clamor and tumult from the outside parties for the people was celebrating the Hanami festival. He remembered Kakashi Sensei, Sakura, Sasuke and himself slurping ramen and recounting the funny encounters they had from the said assignment. He remembered how happy they were that day, even the aloof and stoic Uchiha occasionally let out a half-suppressed chortle. It was nothing short of pure bliss. But everything has to come to an end. He felt a nostalgic dejection as he remembered when they bid their farewells to each other to retire for the day. He remembered seeing his sensei and friends go and part ways, walking further and further until he can no longer see their silhouettes; while he was left alone in a crossroad from which he can never follow them. What would he not give to relive even just a single hour of that day. But what's gone is gone and cannot be brought back. The truth is painful, it always is.

Finally, he regained his senses back. Brushing off his melancholy, Naruto stood up and composed himself.

"Maybe in time, the truth of what happened to my people will be revealed and if what I saw that day isn't just a figment my imagination, I will find out" Naruto mused in a hollow voice as he gazed at the star riddled sky from the window of his room.

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(Forks High School – The Next Day)

A faded red 1963 Chevy pick-up truck pulled over and parked itself on the school's parking lot but as soon as it stopped, the vehicle backfired producing a loud popping noise and a puff of black smoke; earning the condescending stares and unkind mocking grin of some students who perceived it to be nothing more than an eyesore.

Bella got off the truck. She decided to ignore the rustling whispers and just set about her business, evading as much attention as possible. She headed to the reception where she was entertained by Ms. Cope, a gentle plump woman with short grey hair and visible laugh lines on her Face. She handed Bella a list of her class schedules, along with a map of the school and slips for the teachers to sign.

As she walked past the corridors, on her way to her first period, a young man of Asian descent approached her. He was a cheerful guy and somewhat a bit geeky, Bella thought. He was wearing a dark blue shirt and tie, giving him a semi-corporate look.

"You're Isabella Swan the new girl. Hi. I'm Eric, the eyes and ears of this place." Eric introduced himself in friendly and merry manner. "Uhm anything you need. Tour guide, lunch date, shoulder to cry on?" the overly helpful young man continued.

"I'm really kind of the more sufferer in silence type." Bella replied, cordially and with a vague smile.

"Good headline for your feature. I'm on the paper, and you're news baby, front page." Eric said ecstatically and with a big smile on his face.

"No I'm not. You…Please don't have any sort of…" Bella awkwardly and stutteringly mumbled in surprise.

"Chillax. No feature" Eric said in allay before Bella was able to finish her incoherent objection.

"Okay, thanks" Bella said, more than relieved

"Cool?" Eric inquired to make sure that any awkwardness between them has been dispelled.

Bella's attention was suddenly diverted when she saw a handsome blonde youth, it was Naruto. His unruly and spikey blonde hair was like the intense golden rays of a winter sunrise. He sports a richly tanned skin, which was something of an attractive novelty for her. He also had whisker marks on his face that only sharpened his striking good looks. Though, he seemed to be pensive that day as if in deep thought of something profound and prodigious. Ignoring the pleasantries and niceties of the flushed young women who hovered around him like flies, he continued to stride until he walked passed Bella and Eric.

"Who's he?" Bella involuntarily muttered loud enough for Eric to hear her.

"Oh…him? That's Naruto" He replied with just enough tremble in his voice to conceal his dejection and trepidation as he beheld the stiff competition.

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(Gym Class)

There was a rustle of activity and chattering inside the gym from the myriad of girls playing volleyball and boys playing basketball contra-parallel to each other.

Bella grunts in awkwardness for she's not a big fan of volleyball, or any sport for that matter. She was also worried that her God-given clumsiness may hurt or outright kill someone before the period is over.

"Get it! Get it! Get it!" A girl ecstatically said to her team mates as the ball lobed through their court. Another girl swiftly spiked it up and through the net of the opposing team's side but was blocked and deflected yet again to theirs.

"To you!" One of the girls cried out as she reckoned that the ball's trajectory was heading to Bella's direction.

Stumped, Bella deflected the ball with a gawking slap and it flew out of control.

"Whoa!" bellowed by a flummoxed boy who got hit at the back of his head by the stray volleyball.

Bella rushed to him and apologized. "I'm sorry. I told them not to let me play"

"No way. No, no, no. That's... That's... Don't...You're Isabella, right?" The boy said intermittently with a smile on his face as he was further staggered with what he thought to be a fortunate happenstance.

"Just Bella" She corrected. She found him to be altogether good looking but not her type. He has blond hair and pale blue eyes that perfectly accented his baby face.

"Yeah. Hey, I'm Mike Newton." He cheerfully introduced himself in a friendly manner as he extended his arms to Bella.

"Nice to meet you" Bella said, reciprocating his gesture of friendship by shaking his hands.

"She got a great spike right?" They were suddenly interrupted by a petite, outgoing girl with straight dark-brown hair and blue eyes.

"Yeah, it's…" Mike chuckled, holding the back of his head.

"I'm Jessica, by the way. Hey, you're from Arizona, right?" She introduced herself, followed by an inquiry.

"Yeah" Bella responded

"Aren't people from Arizona supposed to be, like, really tan?" Jessica further queried.

"Yeah. Maybe that's why they kicked me out." Bella awkwardly mumbled in a rather quipping response that made Mike and Jessica chuckle on her reply.

"You're good" Mike said as he found her statement genuinely amusing.

"That's so funny." Jessica further supplemented but with a rather forced and artificial giggle.

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(School Cafeteria)

"Like a masterpiece, you know, we'll have, like, this crazy pyramid fall from the sky, and then you guys can..." Eric was talking to someone when he saw Mike being overly-helpful and uncharacteristically chivalrous.

"It's my pleasure, Madame" Mike said as he pulled a seat for Bella "Burito my friend" he then offered to the latter.

"You guys can give each other high fives…" Eric said quickly concluding his current conversation to stave off Mike from being too friendly. "Hey, Mikey! You met my home girl, Bella?"

"Hey. Oh, your home girl?" Mike responded with a smile. But underneath that smile is a subliminal message telling Eric the word _"Mine!"_

"Yeah" Eric responded jovially. Subliminally projecting to Mike his own message; _"I saw her first! Back-off dude"_

"Yeah" Mike echoed as if he was telepathically telling Eric; _"I don't care. You back-off"_

Though, the conversation was superficially friendly and pleasant, Mike and Eric subtly locked their eyes like a lion and a tiger trying to intimidate each other in to submission. Out of the blue, Tyler kissed Bella's cheek, exclaiming "That's…my girl!" then he pulled Mikes chair causing the latter to stumble on the floor and chase him in exasperation. Making most of the people who saw the spectacle laugh in amusement; others felt a little jealous of Bella.

"Sorry to mess your game Mike" Tyler childishly said as he was being chased by Mike

"Oh, my God. It's like first grade all over again. You're the shiny new toy" Jessica said, she wished that she was the epicenter of all this attention.

But before Bella could reply she saw Angela with a camera aimed at her "Smile" the latter said, followed by a flash.

"Okay" Bella uncomfortably muttered, overwhelmed from all the unwanted attention.

"Sorry. I needed a candid for the feature" Angela then said

"The feature's dead, Angela. Don't bring it up again" Eric chided quite harshly

"It's okay, I just..." Bella said, trying to defuse the situation but was cut-off.

"I got your back, baby" Eric said while tapping her shoulder, as if to comfort her and project the impression of a protector.

"I guess we'll just run another editorial on teen drinking" Angela said in a somber voice.

"You know you can always go for….eating disorders" a statement that made Jessica pause and hesitated to swallow another bite "or speedo padding on the swim team" Bella said, trying to comfort Angela, who was visibly hurt by Eric's reprimand.

"Actually that's a good one" Angela lightened up, her eyes exponentially filled with optimism.

"That's exactly what I thought….Kirk, right?" Jessica supplied

"We're talking Olympic size. There's no way, he's so skinny it doesn't make sense" Jessica said as she described the anatomical paradox.

"Totally" Angela concurred

"Yeah"

As both girls giggled, Bella glanced at her shoulder and saw six inhumanly beautiful people entered the cafeteria, they were so graceful that it seemed like they're floating.

Of the four were boys. One was big, muscled like a serious weight lifter and has curly dark hair; another was taller, leaner but still muscular and honey blonde. The third is the golden haired boy he saw earlier that day; and the last was lanky, less bulky with untidy bronze colored hair, he was more boyish than the others save for the third.

The girls with them are opposites. The tall girl has a long golden hair waving gently behind her back. She has a statuesque physique that made most other girls' self-esteem recede in her presence. The second girl was pixie like, her hair was a deep black, cropped short and pointing in every direction.

"Who are they?" Bella inquired curiously

"They're uhm, Dr. and Mrs. Cullen's foster kids. They moved down here from Alaska, like, a few years ago." Jessica said in response to her inquiry.

"They kinda keep to themselves" Angela further added.

"Yeah, cause they're all together…like together-together." Jessica said under her breath. "The blonde girl, that's Rosalie and the big dark haired guy, Emmett. They're like a thing. I'm not even sure that's legal.

"Jess, they're not actually related" Angela said

"Yeah, but they live together. It's weird." Jessica defended her statement. "Okay, the little dark hair girl, she's Alice. She's really weird. And uhmm, she's with Jasper, the blonde one who looks like he's in pain. Dr. Cullen is like this foster dad, slash, matchmaker." She further continued.

"Maybe he'll adopt me." Angela said in a dreamy voice.

"And them? Bella further queried to point out the other two boys.

That's Edward, totally gorgeous obviously, but apparently none of the girls here are good enough for him. Like I care, you know?" She laughed awkwardly then snatched a glance at Edward who seemed laughing at something, belying her last statement. "So, yeah…seriously though, don't waste your time" she told Bella.

"I wasn't planning on it" Bella responded.

Edward then glanced at Bella. His face was riddled with an uncanny expression, like that of an unmet expectation.

"Oh and the cute blonde guy with him is Naruto. Weird name right? He's a total hottie though, and so far the most approachable and outgoing of them. But apparently he's not in a very good mood today."

"Maybe all he need is a girlfriend" Angela again said in a dreamy voice, though, this time she was more like supplicating to everything that is holy to be that girl.

"You wish" Jessica playfully heckled that made both girls giggle like mischievous fairies.

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"What's your problem now?" Rosalie scoffed at Naruto. They only talk to each other when they absolutely have to, and whenever they do the conversation is usually fleeting and snappy. Although it may appear that she's not very fond of the shinobi (and him to her), the truth is they do cared deeply for one another's well-being like real siblings.

"Jeez….what's it to you goldilocks" Naruto retorted sarcastically "Don't you and papa bear over there have some smooching appointment?" He then continued, it made Emmett chuckle like an amused boy but was immediately chastised by Rosalie's piercing stare. Naruto was well aware that she's just looking out for him and this is his way of saying that he's fine and there's nothing to worry about.

"It's that dream again isn't it?" Jasper inquired. Though, he was certain that it is indeed the cause of the shinobi's wistfulness.

"Yeah. How did you find out? Naruto asked back.

"We all heard you crying like a little bitch last night" Rosalie said, seizing the perfect opportunity for a riposte.

"Whatever" Naruto crossed his arm and pouted. "But yeah, it was that dream. The last time I had it was back when Elvis died in the crapper" He was a big fan of Elvis (don't ask why), and he took it quite hard when the king shuffled off his mortal coil while on the throne.

For them this is the closest thing to a leisurely conversation, and it assuaged their minds from the transitorily unbearable clasp of immortal existence. It reminded them of the happiest and joy filled hours they had in an ocean of misery and melancholy, back when they still live a mortal life.

"Everything alright there Edward?" Naruto diverged

"I can't read her thought" Edward said as he gazed at Bella with a bemused expression on his face.

"Is that so" Naruto said with curiosity. He then used his more potent chakra induced telepathy to peer in to Bella's mind but he was unable to breach deep enough in to her psyche and was only able to read superficial and random thoughts. "Interesting" he exclaimed with a light of enthusiasm and hope in his eyes.

 **End**

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 **AN: Hey there Folks!**

 **Sorry for the time it took me to publish this chapter. I was originally planning to publish the 2** **nd** **and 3** **rd** **chapters of the story at the same time but had to make some modifications on the latter.**

 **Naruto will eventually re-encounter Quileute shape shifters. I'm planning to pair him and Leah Clearwater.** **I thought that they would make an interesting couple; with Naruto's boisterous personality and Leah's hot temper and somewhat slightly embittered views. Though this may come to realization on the much later chapters due to timeline constraints and because I'm still pondering the "mechanics" to hopefully work it all out**.

 **Hopefully I didn't disappoint you awesome folks :)**

 **Cheerio**


	3. Chapter 3: A Cold Flame

In a perpetually stormy and constantly shifting nebula like dimensional plane outside of reality, there stood two beings sternly glaring at each other, perusing the slightest weakness of one another to gain the upper-hand in what seemed to be a philosophical debate. One of which was Hagoromo Otsutsuki, the sage of six paths, and the other was a rather strange and eldritch being; he looked like a solid black silhouette of a youth riddled with iridescent starry-like spots akin to that of a cloudless night sky, and was engulfed in a fiery aura of white energy.

The entity then spoke in an eerie, echoing and cold voice. "The deviations engendered by your intrusion had thrown the natural order in to imbalance that has taken thousands of years of subtle manipulation to rectify." He said in reference to **chakra**.

"The core teachings of **Ninshu** were meant to connect the spiritual energies of every living being. Uniting nations in to a single people that is able to understand each other without communication and thereby giving them better understanding of themselves, as well as of others." The sage replied in a calm voice, in defense of his philosophy.

"Is it really, indeed? I think not….old man" The entity said. Hagoromo could've sworn that he saw an ephemeral demonic grin on the formers shadowy and featureless face. "I can see that your senility is only superseded by your arrogance."

"Old man? To my understanding you're far more ancient than I am" the sage riposte with a vague smile before his face turned austere again "Why do you despise humans so much?" He then inquired in a serious tone.

"On the contrary. I find humans quite interesting….even though they are a worthless greedy lot." The entity replied.

"Is that why you destroyed the elemental nations?"

"I have my reasons"

"How your mind works baffles me. What kind of reason there is to kill millions of innocent people? Do you see yourself and your kind too mighty and superior to indifferently ignore the lives of those lower than you and step on them and crush them like insects on the heels of your feet? Do you not have a conscience nor a concept of what's right or wrong?" The sage firmly retorted in a serious tone, gripping his staff rather tightly.

"I am beyond duality. I can do no wrong…for I don't know what it is." The entity tranquilly spoke once again in the same eerie and echoing voice, shocking the sage from the revelation of the dark god. "What fascinations there are in this planet. Strange mortals with…curious customs. But alas, their lives are fragile and fleeting like falling autumn leaves. And in their paltry, unfortunate existence they desired things, concepts and powers that are not theirs nor could they hope to comprehend. Day and night they endlessly supplicated the heavens for equality. To be as wealthy as their neighbor, as powerful as the lord they serve, to have the means to avenge their ill fates…"

"So you decided silence them forever?" Hagoromo said in a contemptuous hollow voice.

"I granted their egalitarian wish and longing….noble and common, rich and poor, young and old….all are equal in death" The deity said indifferently as he slowly fade and vanished in to nothingness.

" _He has strange notions of kindness. But he was made so and does not know any better. His ways are indeed peculiar from a mortal's point of view."_ Hagoromo pondered mirthlessly from the yet again disturbing revelation. "Naruto, I leave everything to you now…my son" The sage said with a tiny spark of hope in his heart as he was left alone in that otherworldly dimensional prison.

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(Port Angeles)

A ramen bar recently opened in Port Angeles and Naruto was ecstatic for it's the only one in town. He quickly made a shadow clone to be his replacement in school and **Hiraishin** himself to Washington St., where it was located. His face lit up with joy as he ingress and beheld the glorious magnificence of the establishment.

"One miso ramen with extra katsudon please!" Naruto enthusiastically ordered.

The chef gladly complied and assembled the ramen. Judiciously preparing the noodles and flawlessly merging it with the hearty miso broth like he was uniting yin and yang with immaculate artistry. He then added the toppings with a gentle and artful precision; scallions, nori, menma, halved onsen tamago, and the crowning piece, a perfectly golden sliced katsudon which made Naruto drool; and the shinobi drooled some more when the masterfully completed dish was served in front of him.

"It's so beautiful." Naruto tearfully said as he inhaled deeply, savoring its aroma, which was heavenly.

His senses run amok with the first slurp, his neurons fired wildly from the delectable euphoria that his taste buds were basking on. _"Oh ramen, where have you been all my life"_ Naruto thought in blissful exaltation as he continued to slurp and gulp. It didn't take long for him to finish the fairly large bowl and ordered for seconds.

"You sure love ramen." A gentle voice said that he thought was familiar. The image of Hinata Hyuga flashed on his mind. He knew that Hinata was long gone but for some peculiar reason he felt her presence as if she's just next to him.

Naruto turned his gaze to the voice's origin and saw a young woman giving him a half smile. She has perfect copper skin and attractive long eye lashes that perfectly complimented her exotic beauty.

"You come here often miss…" he said, leaving the sentence unfinished as if silently asking for the young woman's name.

But before she could formally introduce herself, a guy with long black hair and a serious face that Naruto easily identified as a member of the Quileute tribe suddenly grabbed her arms. "Leah, let's go" the man said as he glared darkly at the shinobi before the two stormed out.

"Sam what's wrong with you?" She inquired quite irate, confounded by his behavior.

"Don't you know who that guy is?" Sam Uley said in a grim and harsh tone.

"No. You pulled me away before he could introduce himself. Which, by the way you have nothing to be jealous about." Leah said sarcastically, trying to defuse what she thought to be Sam's unfounded jealousy.

"He's with the Cullen's" Sam said in a whisper like but stern voice as his eyes narrowed.

"A cold one? But that's impossible I actually saw him eat food." Leah stutteringly said in bewilderment.

"He's the most dangerous of them. Look, just promise me you won't have anything to do with that…whatever he is." Sam chided, harsher and more serious than before with blazing eyes that compelled her to comply.

Unknown to them, a cloaked shadow clone surreptitiously eavesdropped on their conversation. It then dispelled and relayed the information it learned to Naruto. He conjured the clone just before the two left the premises to ensure that Leah would be fine. He was both captivated and perplexed by the nostalgic and strangely difficult to comprehend sentiment that she has evoked in him.

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(Biology Class)

Bella entered the classroom accompanied by Angela. Next to the center aisle, she recognized Edward by his unusual hair. As she walked to the teacher, Mr. Molina, to introduce herself and have her slip signed, the fan blew behind her. For some reason Edward went rigid on his seat, he looked appalled and clutched his hand firmly on his nose like he just caught a lungful of the most putrid and reviling stench the collective cesspools of the planet was able to brew. And as if things couldn't go any worse, Mr. Molina assigned Bella to sit right next to the grimaced young man. She was bewildered and perplexed by the antagonistic glare that he was giving her.

Edward didn't looked up as Bella set her things on the table and took her seat, though, the latter saw his posture change from the corner of her eye. He was leaning away from her, sitting on the extreme edge of his chair as if the offensive reek that assaulted him earlier just got more overpowering. Inconspicuously, Bella sniffed her hair. It smelled like strawberries _,_ the smell of her favorite shampoo,

Bella let her hair fall on her shoulder, making a dark curtain between them. She tried to pay more attention to the teacher. Unfortunately, the lecture was about cellular anatomy, something she already tackled in her old high school, back in Arizona. Nonetheless she took notes diligently, always looking down.

Oddly, she couldn't help but peek occasionally at the strange boy next to her. During the entirety of the class he seemed to be in pain and never relaxed his stiff position on the edge of his chair, sitting as far as possible. Both of them felt that the particular class appeared to drag longer than the others and the discomfort it elicited seemed like siting on hot cinders. Bella peeked one more time at Edward and regretted it. His charcoal black eyes were glaring at her, full of revulsion.

" _If looks could kill"_ Bella thought, uncomfortably.

As the bell ranged, Edward rose fluidly and was out the door before anyone else was out of their seat. Bella sat frozen, staring blankly after him. She was puzzled and felt ire. She then slowly gathered her things, blocking the anger that filled her, fearing that her eyes would tear up. For some reason her temper was hardwired to her tear ducts and she usually cries when she's angry, with humiliating and less than pleasant tendency.

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Later that day, as Bella walked in to the office to hand over the signed slips back to Miss Cope, she saw someone that almost made her turn around and walk back out. It was Edward Cullen. He stood at the desk and apparently didn't notice her come in. He was arguing with the receptionist to trade his Biology for another class of any other time.

"There must be something else. Physics, Bio-chem…." Edward said in a low, attractive voice.

"I'm sorry but every class is full" Ms. Cope explained to Edward. "Just a minute dear" She then said as she saw Bella enter the office. Turning her attention back to Edward, she continued "I'm afraid you have to stay in Biology"

"Alright…I just have to endure it" Edward said, then hastily walked out the door without looking at Bella.

Bella meekly approached the receptionist's desk and handed her the signed slips.

"How did your first day go dear?" Ms. Cope asked maternally.

"Fine" Bella replied in a timid voice. It was a lie, and it's either she not a very good liar or Miss Cope is just sharply perceptive for the latter didn't look too convinced.

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(Carver Café)

Whenever Bella isn't cooking; Charlie and she goes to the particular diner for their meal.

"I can't believe how much you've grown. And so gorgeous" Said Cora, while she's serving Bella a plate of fries and garden burger. She's Charlie's friend and works there as a waitress.

Suddenly, a tall, middle aged and balding man walked over "Hey Bella. You remember me?" he said keenly.

Bella peered at the man with a bemused face and cordially beamed at him a vague smile. He looked familiar but she can't particularly recognize him.

"I played Santa one year" the man said with much enthusiasm.

"Yeah. Waylon. She did not have a Christmas here since she was four" Charlie reminded the man.

"I bet I made an impression an impression of it didn't I?" Waylon said, hopeful that he indeed made an impression.

"You always do." Charlie wittily replied

"But crack Santa" Cora remarked that made them all smirk.

"Hey, kids loved those little bottles though." Waylon said referring to the tiny bottles he handed as Christmas gifts to children whenever he plays Santa Clause every year.

"Alright, let the girl eat her garden burger Waylon." Cora said as he genially dismissed him. "As soon as you're done I will bring you your favorite. Berry cobbler, remember? You're dad still haves it….every Thursday.

"Thank you. It would be great" Bella said, extending her appreciation to the nice lady.

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It wasn't raining the next day but the clouds were thick and opaque. Bella stood at the school's parking lot, waiting for Edward. She decided to confront him and demand to know what his problem was. But he never showed.

The day after that, another no show. More days past and Bella can't help but feel a nagging suspicion that he wasn't there because of her. _"It's ridiculous and egotistical to think that I can affect someone that strongly. It's impossible"_ Bella thought, trying to convince herself repeatedly but at the back of her head she couldn't stop worrying that it is true.

The week passed uneventful and Bella's first weekend at Forks went without incident.

Then comes Monday. As Bella was walking down the driveway of their house towards her truck. She accidentally slipped from the slippery frozen concrete and landed on her bottom. Prompting Charlie to rush over and help her stand.

"You alright?" Charlie inquired as he helped her daughter stand.

"Yeah I'm good. Ice doesn't really help being coordinated." Bella replied

"Yeah. That's why I had new tires put on the truck. Old ones are getting pretty bald" He said, inspecting the new tires, slightly kicking one just to make sure. "Well, I would probably be late for dinner. I gotta head down to Mason County. Security guard at the Grisham Mill got killed by some kind of animal."

"An animal?" Bella inquired, slightly bemused.

"You're not in Phoenix anymore, Bells. Anyway, I figured I'd lend a hand."

"Be careful."

"Always am."

"And thanks for the tires" Bella said, smiling

"Yeah" Charlie responded before he got on his cruiser.

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"Prom Committee is a chick thing, but I gotta cover it for the paper anyway, and they need a guy to help choose the music, so I need your play list. Hey, listen, I was wondering, did you have a date to..." Eric chatted, accompanying Bella to Biology class and was about to ask her to the prom when they were suddenly interrupted by Mike.

"What's up, Arizona? Huh? How you liking the rain, girl? Better get used to it, girl." Mike genially said, playfully flapping his rain drenched hat atop of Bella in jest.

"Yeah, Mike, hey, you're real cute, man." Eric sarcastically said in frustration.

"Oh, I know...that was really awesome." Mike said in an innocent tone, pretending that he didn't purposely interrupted their conversation at the point where Eric was about to ask Bella to prom.

"Why you shooting down my game? Let a playa play." Eric continued, seeing passed through Mike's stratagem.

"Yeah, okay. What you playing at, T-Ball?" Mike retorted, amused.

As the two continued to bicker, Bella walked to her seat and saw Edward, who has decided to finally end his self-imposed exile and comeback to school. His skin was less pale, the circles under his eyes are much less noticeable and there was something more, Bella pondered, staring, trying to isolate the change. But she did so as cautiously as possible, out of fear of receiving one of his antagonistic glares yet again.

" _There goes my good day"_ Bella thought as she sat next to him.

She was flummoxed however, when Edward spoke to her in a gentle voice.

"Hello…I'm sorry I hadn't had the chance to introduce myself last week. I'm Edward Cullen. You're Bella?" He said in a serene and almost musical voice.

"Y…yess" Bella replied, still astonished from the unexpected surprise. She then heard Mr. Molina saying something and focused her attention to the teacher.

"Onion root tip cells, that's what's on your slides right now. Okay? So, separate and label them into the phases of mitosis, and the first partners that get it right are gon'na win the Golden Onion." The teacher said, holding 'the prize' that made the entire room rustle from the student's chattering and harmless catcalling.

"Ladies first" Edward slid the microscope to Bella.

"You were gone" Bella seized the perfect time for an inquiry.

"Yeah. I was out of town for a couple of days. Personal reasons." Edward awkwardly replied as Bella was peering on the microscope, he then finished his sentence with a rather nervous smirk.

"Prophase" Bella said with regards to the specimen she just viewed under the microscope.

"Do you mind if I look?" Edward inquired in a gentle voice. "It's prophase" He then said, concurring with Bella's earlier assessment.

"Like I said"

"So are you enjoying the rain?" Edward said beaming, deviating the topic of conversation.

Bella anxiously smirked "What? You're asking me about the weather?" she said in response to the Victorian question.

"Yeah, I...I guess I am." Edward said with a confused expression on his face.

Well, I don't really like the rain. Any cold, wet thing, I don't really...What? Bella said that made Edward smirk as if he found something amusing.

"What?" Bella inquired, curious of his strange reaction.

"Nothing" Edward said with still traces of amusement in his voice. He then peered in to the microscope "It's anaphase"

You mind if I check?

"Sure"

"Anaphase" Bella echoed in agreement to Edward.

"Like I said" Edward implied with a smile that made Bella gently bit her lip. "If you hate the cold and the rain so much, why'd you move to the wettest place in the continental US? He then asked the question out of curiosity.

"It's complicated" Bella replied

"I'm sure I can keep up"

"My mom remarried, and..." Bella began in sad voice. She found it peculiarly difficult to word the thoughts she wanted to express.

"So you don't like the guy, or..." Edward said, more than an assumption than a guess as he attempted to deduce the contents of her words.

"No, that's not...Phil's really nice" Bella responded. She stared at Edward's eyes to closely scrutinize that they indeed changed color from charcoal black to golden amber.

"It's metaphase. You want to check it?" Edward then said after examining the third slide in to the microscope.

"I believe you" Bella replied, mesmerized.

Since they're the first pair to complete the task, Mr. Molina awarded them the golden onion. Even as the class ended they found themselves still speaking to each other in the hallway. Edward was strangely chatty that day, he was genuinely curious about Bella. Usually, the vampire just telepathically read the information he wanted from anyone to obtain it. There are only two persons who are an exception. First was Naruto who can shield his mind from him, and the Second is Bella who doesn't register any thought.

Hey, did you get contacts? Bella finally inquired in curiosity with regards to the peculiar change of Edward's eye color.

"No"

"Your eyes were black the last time I saw you, and now they're, like, golden brown."

"Yeah, I know, it's the...It's the fluorescents" Edward struggled to fabricate a pretense as he was caught off guard by the question. He then decided to storm out, living Bella mystified.

As Bella head to his truck in the school's parking lot she saw Edward standing near his shiny silver Volvo. He was talking to Naruto or rather, the latter was telling him something interesting but his attention was focused on her. Naruto seemed to notice Edward's distraction and gazed upon Bella's direction. To her surprise the shinobi flashed a dazzling white friendly smile and waved at her. He's no less gorgeous than his sibling, she thought. She then saw Naruto said something to Edward that made the latter anxious. Bella didn't particularly caught what he said but it would seem that the golden haired boy is teasing his bronze haired sibling.

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"You do realize that I couldn't really relate with that kind of topic right?" Edward said with a deadpan expression on his face.

"I know you have your 'special diet' and all…but at least let me tell you the artistic principles of ramen…." The shinobi said with fiery fervor but noticed that Edward isn't really listening and was rather distracted, staring at someone. He instantly traced his line of sight and saw Bella. "She's kinda cute. You have good taste in women" He said to him.

"I don't know what you're talking about" Edward said anxiously

Naruto then cheekily grinned, his face looked like that of a sly fox "So that's where you've been up to every time you leave the house this past few nights. You sneak in to her room didn't you? It's a little bit creepy if you ask me but in this day and age ya' kno…."

"Shut up" Edward said under his breath. If it isn't for the fact that he's a vampire he would've blushed red like a tomato from the embarrassment.

"Oh don't be too modest Edward….I can't quite believe it. Our little Eddie-boy…is now all grown up. I'm so proud" Naruto said in a fashion similar to how Esme speak. Alice giggled with amusement and even the usually stoic and composed Jasper cannot help himself but laugh; and if the rest of the Cullen's were only there they would have a good chuckle from it too, save for Edward of course, who at the moment looks kind of irritated.

"Stop talking please…..thank you" Edward said, finally able to compose himself after being bombarded with embarrassing quips by his golden haired foster brother.

"Okay…okay…I'm sorry. I behaved immaturely and I apologize." Naruto said as he wiped the wisecracking tears of joy from his eye. "Though, if you'll indulge me, I wanted to ask you a favor." He then said in a deathly serious tone, his face turned from jolly to grim.

"What?" Edward inquired. His voice was partially quivering from uneasiness. The last time he saw Naruto that serious was back when he dispatched four Volturi guards so brutally that it made Aro, and Caius look away, trembling in fear.

"Give me five little pimp!" Naruto cheekily said in a rather high-pitched voice, raising his right hand for a high five while laughing like an insane person that deeply annoyed Edward and left the vampire fuming in exasperation.

Edward was about to walk out from the wisecracking blonde when he saw an out of control van about to crush Bella. There was no time to think about consequences, his instincts outpaced his ratiocinative faculties.

Bella was startled when suddenly she heard a loud horn and saw a speeding dark blue van with Tyler in it. He tried to avoid a reversing car but his van went out of control and was sent screeching on a collision course with its side hitting Bella's truck, and she was standing amidst the two steel machines that was inexorably about to collide with one another.

Bella's entire life flashed before her eyes but before she could close them out of fear, she felt that someone pushed her out of the way. She then heard the shattering crunch of the van folding around the truck bed and felt an overwhelming fear.

Darkness overtook her. She seemed to pass out for a second from what she thought to be her demise. Curiously, as she slowly returned to her senses, she realized that Edward's left arm was around her waist and his right arm held out to stop the van, crushing its side. His hand left a noticeable dent on the van's door as the vehicle impacted it. Bella gazed at his rescuer and he looked back, their eyes locked for a moment but he quickly severed it and left casually like nothing happened.

It was absolutely silent for one long second before the screaming began. In an abrupt bedlam, Bella could hear more than one person shouting her name as other students rush to her aid.

"Dial 911" A girl frantically cried out.

"I already called. They're gon'na send somebody over soon." A boy holding his phone exclaimed.

"Bella I'm sorry. I panicked…" Tyler apologized in earnest with a weak voice and seemingly about to pass out as he apparently received more injuries than her, with blood gushing from his forehead.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the parking lot; Alice and Jasper watched with a hard expression on their faces from the stunt Edward just pulled.

"Rosalie is going to kill him" Alice mumbled. She could already see Rosalie's outraged reaction, coupled with some harsh scolding for what he did could elicit the wrath of the Volturi.

Naruto, however, remained staid and calm. He then formed a seal of confrontation with his right hand and cast a wide area effect **genjutsu** that altered the perceptions of those who witnessed the accident. "You did the right thing" he then said to Edward as he approached them back.

 **End**

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 **AN: Hey there folks!**

 **So at this point I would slowly introduce the C'thulhu mythos element(s) of the story. And yes the dark god has the personality of a teenage boy. I would later expound on his impartial and peculiar point of views and personality, along with his "abilities" on the subsequent chapters.**

 **Also, in the story, Naruto and Leah encountered each other briefly. At this point, Leah is still with Sam and hasn't shifted yet. She knew all about the Quileute's tribal lore regarding the cold ones as well as Ephraim's treaty with the Cullens but never actually saw a single member of the coven. Though, I'm planning to give her and Naruto more interactions, along with other Quileute shape shifters in the upcoming chapters.**

 **As always, I highly appreciate the reviews and feedbacks of you awesome people to further improve the story.**

 **See you next chapter**

 **Cheerio**


	4. Chapter 4: The Morning Star

As soon as Charlie was informed about the accident he immediately hopped to his cruiser and drove faster than he ever did in lifetime, breaking dozens of traffic rules in frantic. As he arrived at the hospital and at the emergency room he saw Tyler, whose head was wrapped in blood-stained bandages. His heart almost stopped, as he could only surmise the terrible injuries his daughter might have suffered. To his relief, Bella seemed to be fine and was apparently unharmed.

"Bella. You okay? " Charlie said, deeply concerned. He then turned to Tyler with a straight face "You and I are gon'na talk."

"I'm fine, Dad. Calm down." Bella responded, trying to defuse the situation.

"I'm sorry, Bella. I tried to stop." Tyler said, anxiously.

"I know. It's okay." Bella reassured him but the guilt in his face wasn't fully assuaged.

"No. It sure as hell is not okay." Charlie reprimanded in a stern tone that made Tyler looked down and remorsefully contemplate his mistake.

"Dad, it wasn't his fault."

"You could've been killed. You understand that?"

"Yes. But I wasn't, so..."

Charlie once again glared at Tyler "You can kiss your license goodbye."

"I heard the chief's daughter was here." Suddenly a doctor walked around the corner and Bella's mouth fell open. He was young, blonde and more handsome than any movie star she had ever seen. From Charlie's description, this has to be Edward's father.

"Dr. Cullen" Charlie greeted, confirming Bella's speculation.

"Charlie" Carlisle greeted back, giving Charlie a friendly tap in the back.

"I've got this one, Jackie…Isabella." Carlisle said in a gentle voice as he took Bella's chart from the nurse.

"Bella" She corrected him.

"Well, Bella…looks like you took quite a spill. How do you feel?" He then queried.

"Good" Bella responded.

"Look here." Carlisle said as he flashed a torch on each of Bella's eyes. "You might experience some post-traumatic stress or disorientation, but your vitals look good. No signs of any head trauma. I think you'll be just fine." He then continued that made Charlie sigh in relief from hearing it.

"I'm so sorry, Bella. I'm really..." Tyler muttered remorsefully but was cut-off when Charlie abruptly closed the cubicle curtain between them, out of exasperation.

"You know, it would've been a whole lot worse if Edward wasn't there. He knocked me out of the way." Bella said as trickle by trickle her memory of the incident slowly came back.

"Edward? Your boy?" Charlie inquired, looking at Carlisle.

"Yeah, it was amazing. I mean, he got to me so fast. He was nowhere near me." Bella answered his question for him.

"Sounds like you were very lucky." Carlisle responded in a rather anxious voice and vague smile. He was bewildered for Bella remembered what happened quite clearly in spite of Naruto's **genjutsu** that was designed to erase her recollection of the accident and replace it with a fabricated memory.

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"I got to go sign some paperwork. You should...You should probably call your mom" Charlie said in an awkward voice.

"Did you tell her?" Bella asked, which Charlie responded with an awkward facial expression, implying that he has no choice but to tell Renée what happened. "She's probably just freaking out." she then muttered."

Bella pulled her phone and walked a few steps away from Charlie to make a phone call to her mother - who is probably delirious by now from the unpleasant news - when she saw Carlisle, Edward, Naruto and Rosalie talking to each other in a serious tone and in low and rustling voices.

"Fifteen kids that saw what happened." Rosalie said lividly.

"What was I supposed to do, then? Let her die?" Edward responded in defense of her action.

"Don't worry about them. They saw what I wanted them to see. It's Bella I'm stumped about. I used an even stronger jutsu on her just to make sure but she just shrugged it off in just less than an hour." Naruto said in a ponderous voice.

"This isn't just about you. It's about all of us." Rosalie scowled at Edward, ignoring Naruto's statement.

"I think we should take this in my office." Carlisle said as they saw Bella standing in a corner, ten feet away from them.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Bella awkwardly said to Edward. Naruto gave her a vague smile, while Rosalie scowled at her.

"Rosalie. Naruto." Carlisle gently said, evoking privacy for Edward and Bella.

"What?" Edward asked, sounding annoyed and his jaws clenched.

"How did you get over to me so fast?" Bella inquired. His unfriendliness intimidated her prompting her words to come with less severity than she originally intended to.

"I was standing right next to you, Bella"

"No. You were next to your car, across the lot."

"No, I wasn't." Edward retorted indifferently, followed by a soft laugh that Bella felt like a mockery.

"Yes, you were." Bella pushed firmly.

"Bella, you're... You hit your head. I think you're confused." Edward said in a cutting tone.

"I know what I saw." Bella's temper flared as she was staring defiantly at him.

"And what exactly was that?" Edward snapped.

"You...You stopped the van. You pushed it away with your hand." Bella retorted. She realized how crazy it sounds that she couldn't continue. She was so mad that she could feel the tears coming and tried to force them back by grinding her teeth together.

"Well, nobody's gonna believe you, so..." Edward responded. He was staring at her incredulously; his face was serious and defensive.

"I wasn't gonna tell anybody. I just need to know the truth."

"Can't you just thank me and get over it?"

"Thank you."

"You're not gonna let this go, are you?"

"No."

"Well, then I hope you enjoy disappointment." Edward said scowling at her and walked out.

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(Biology Field Trip)

"I need everyone's permission slip" Mr. Molina said as tasked a student to collect them.

Meanwhile, Bella was beside her truck. Her eyes wondered the entire parking lot, deeply contemplating if what she saw that day was indeed true or just a hallucination stimulated by trauma. Her gaze fell to the dent on his truck then to Edward who was walking along with Alice and Jasper.

"Hey, look at you….your alive!" Mike, who suddenly appeared in the background out of nowhere said in a silly voice, trying to be cute.

"Yeah. I know, false alarm I guess" Bella said with a vague smile.

"Uhmm yeah…I wanted to ask you, if..if..you know, it's like a month away but uhh…would you..go to..the prom, with me." Mike said incoherently, with a nervous smile on his face, hoping that Bella would say yes.

Bella wasn't really paying attention to him as her concentration was focused on Edward behind him, who for some reason looked amused at something.

"So what do you think?" Mike said that caught Bella's attention back.

"About what?" Bella asked

"You want to go…to prom..with..me" Mike said with awkward intervals in his voice followed by nervous smirks on each lacunae, his pale blue eyes looking at her like a puppy dog.

"Oh..prom..dancing, not such a good idea for me. I have something on that weekend anyway..Im going to Jacksonville that weekend" Bella then said in a slow and measured voice, choosing her words carefully as not to offend him. Meanwhile, he caught a gaze on Edward whose grin on his face just widened as if he heard every last bit of their conversation.

"You cannot go another weekend?" Mike asked. A trace of melancholy was audible in his voice but still hoping that Bella would be her date.

"Nonrefundable ticket" Bella said that visibly saddened Mike but accepted her decision respectfully, nonetheless. She felt sorry for him. "You should ask Jessica. I know she wants to go with you." She then said that made Mike try to smile.

"Hey guys. We got to go. We got to go. Green is what? Good… let's go!" Mr. Molina called them in a cheery and encouraging voice.

"You're so mean" Naruto, said to Edward whose smile is now bigger than ever.

"What? It's funny." Edward replied that made Naruto shook his head.

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(Greenhouse)

"Egg shells, carrot top…compost is cool" Mr. Molina said. Apparently he enjoyed the tour a little bit too much than most of the students. "Now, Im gon'na make a steaming cup of compost tea" he said ecstatically but was distraught when he saw Tyler and Mike took turns sipping it.

"What's in Jacksonville?" Edward curiously asked Bella out of the blue.

Bella was surprised by the question and a bit irritated at the thought that Edward was eavesdropping during her conversation with Mike. "How did you know about that?" Bella asked in a tone which sounded more like an implication than an inquiry.

"You didn't answer my question"

"Well, you didn't answer any of mine so…. You didn't even say hi to me."

"Hi" Edward cumbersomely said that made Bella roll her eyes.

"Are you gon'na tell me how you stopped the van?"

"Yeah, I had an adrenaline rush. It's very common. You can google it."

"Floridians…that's what in Jacksonville." Bella wittily said. She then nearly tripped but was caught by Edward.

"Would you at least watch where you walk" Edward said angrily that made Bella walk away. "Look, I'm sorry if I'm being rude all the time it's just. I think it's the best way." He then said before she could traverse any further distance.

Before she could reply Jessica came and excitedly told the Bella on how Mike asked her to the prom; Edward on the other hand, walked out swiftly and disappeared in to the crowd of students in front of them.

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(Biology Class – The Next Day)

Eric walked Bella to Biology class as usual, constantly chatting to the latter in a genial manner as they stride; asking how's her day and if she's feeling much better since the accident. He also mentioned to Bella that Mr. Molina was out of town for an urgent business and a substitute teacher will have to fill in for a week.

As Bella entered the room she was surprised and a bit crestfallen when she saw Edward no longer sitting where he previously sat but decided to move a few rows behind. There was no question that he's now deliberately avoiding her.

" _What is his problem?"_ Bella thought, she was more irked than ever. She was puzzled and quite deep in her thoughts as to why Edward is acting in such a galling manner. She barely noticed the substitute teacher come in nor did she pay particular attention the lecture.

Bella finally had enough and decided to confront him once and for all. She turned to Edward with a straight face, ready to demand an explanation.

Suddenly all noise died out and time itself seemed to stop as the room was filled with an eerie silence. Bella turned from Edward as curiosity compelled her to peruse the sudden stillness but her subsequent facial expression melded with the singular reaction of everyone in the room; the menagerie of flabbergasted girls whose jaws were completely agape and even the teacher was blushing red as they saw an extremely handsome young man standing at the threshold of the classroom door.

A single glance and he could well be mistaken for an A-lister male model; wearing a simple but fashionable grey challenger henley, faded designer jeans and just slightly blue suede shoes. He is quite tall, standing at about 6'2, apparently has a lean but well-built body. Has a medium length, glossy and slightly wavy golden-brown hair that gives him a casual and groomed but undone look. He also sports a silky, flawless fair skin complexion and celestial facial aesthetics that could challenge and effortlessly subdue the definition of perfection.

But his most distinguishing feature are those strikingly beautiful and mesmerizing iridescent electric blue eyes that somewhat look purple when viewed in the right light. Those pair of hypnotic orbs are so enthralling that gazing upon them feels like being removed from the mundane existence and be set adrift in to a sea of astral splendour and soul pacifying tranquillity.

"Can I help you?" The substitute teacher, a petite latina looking lady broke the silence.

"I apologize for the intrusion miss. I'm a new student. The nice lady from the office said I should give this to you and have it signed" The young man said politely with a pleasant voice and in a cultured accent while handing the slip to the teacher.

"Okay….Mr. Alexander Storm…I'm Ms. Rodriguez your substitute Biology teacher. By the way can we just call you Alex? Alexander seems so…archaic." The teacher said with a subtle hint of jest after reading the slip.

"Sure thing" The young man cheerfully replied.

"Ok then Alex. Please help yourself to a vacant seat"

Alex nodded before he sat down on an available seat that happens to be adjacent to Bella. The young man smiled in greeting to his flushed seatmate which was reciprocated with a nod and vague smile before she awkwardly looked away. Though Bella can't help but glimpse at him every now and then.

" _Every aspect of him is perfect, he's so beautiful_." Bella thought.

While Edward behind them was giving the young man a rather suspicious glare. Not because he felt jealousy of any kind (ok maybe a little) but the very presence of their new classmate is giving him an uncanny and chilling sensation. He tried to read him but quickly withdraw in painful regret. Unlike Bella's wall like mind, which was quiet and doesn't register any thought, or Naruto who could block his more profound thoughts from being read; this guy has some sort of mental barrier Edward has never seen before. His mind is like a hazy labyrinth full of unfathomable and unseen perils that would easily claim and shatter the vampire's sanity if he would delve in too deep.

" _Who is this guy?"_ Edward thought

A definitely curious 'gift' that warrants a more profound investigation for later. The bell rang and first period was over.

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(School Cafeteria)

A few periods thereafter, the bell rang yet again and its lunch. The cafeteria was bustling with activity. Students eating and socializing with their friends, jocks bragging on how awesome their game was last season, girls churning out the latest gossip, and geeks talking about the myriad objects of their fancy.

Alex walked in making more than a few heads turn " _Pretty much your run of the mill school cafeteria I suppose"_ He surmised as he assembled food in his tray.

"Hey Alex over here!" Yelled Eric who he met at Spanish class earlier. Jessica and Angela blushed as they saw the fine-looking young man approached their table.

"Eric my good man, what's up!" Alex jovially greeted fist bumping with Eric.

"Yo' by the way this is Mike, Tyler, Jessica, Angela and new arrival is my home girl Isabella" Eric introduced his friends who Alex nodded at each.

"Just Bella" The pale young woman corrected as she placed her bag on a chair.

"So what brings you to Forks?" Mike inquired while crunching on an apple.

"Well it's kind of complicated. You see I'm originally from Seattle then we moved to my father's estate in Cardiff when I was ten. When my parents…passed away from a car accident last year I decided to move somewhere more equable." Alex said with a glimpse of solitude in his face.

"I'm sorry man" Mike sadly muttered.

"Awww you poor thing" Angela and Jessica almost simultaneously exclaimed.

Eric, Tyler andBella were silent though they were very sympathetic to his plight.

"It's quite alright, though I would suggest we move on to a less sombre topic" Alex said trying to gleam.

"So….Cardiff?….that's in the UK right?" Eric curiously inquired.

"South coast of Wales, Yes" Alex said before shovelling a fork full of coleslaw in his mouth.

"So that's why" Bella said with a half-smile like she deciphered a great mystery.

"Why what?" Alex said with a perplexed look on his face and a mouth full of coleslaw.

"The accent" Bella said with a half-smile on her face.

"Oh…that" Alex chuckled "Well I tried to be less obtrusive as possible but I guess people easily pick up on the way I speak."

"Nah, Its cool man. Don't worry too much about it" Tyler said tapping his back.

"By the way…La Push baby, are you in?" Eric then sleekly said, looking at Bella.

"Should I know what that mean?" Bella replied, expressing slight confusion and trace amount of antipathy for what sounded very much like an innuendo.

"La Push down at the Quileute reservation. We're all going tomorrow" Mike explained.

"Yeah and there's a big swell coming in" Jessica further supplied.

"And I don't just surf the internet" Eric suddenly stood from where he sat and posed a mock surf boarder stance which prompted Mike to do the same in response before being pulled back by Tyler.

"Eric you stood up once, and it was a foam board" Jessica reminded him.

"But there's whale watching too. Come with us. Alex you should totally come too" Angela said trying to convince the two new comers.

Everyone is in agreement with her statement and began to cheer in to persuading the two.

"It's La Push baby. La Push!" Eric reiterated but in a somehow creepier manner.

"Sounds great" Alex said. A little creeped out from how Eric says 'La Push' though he didn't let anyone notice it.

"Ok, I'll go if you stop saying that" Bella said munching on a cucumber before proceeding to the lunch line counter of the cafeteria.

"Seriously dude, it's creepy" Mike said in agreement

"What? That's what it's called" Eric replied in an awkwardly fading voice. Admitting defeat but still trying to salvage a few shreds of his dignity.

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"It's her isn't it?" Alice inquired in a worried tone after seeing Edward painfully trying to control his urge.

Edward didn't respond but his grip on a paper napkin he's holding tightened then he abruptly threw it on the table.

"That may not be our only problem" Naruto said while subtly tilting his head to point out Alex.

"The new kid?" Emmett snorted with an unworried smirk

"What do you mean?" Jasper queried, looking at the other blonde with a slightly confused but curious expression.

"There's something not quite right about with this guy. He's not a vampire, I'll tell you that but I suspect he's no ordinary human either" Naruto said in a serious tone, his eyes narrowing on the newcomer.

"He's kind of cute though." Rosalie involuntarily muttered which Alice furtively concurred and earned a jealous look from Emmett.

"I tried to read him earlier but his mind is like a labyrinth I can't get through. It's painful even to try" Edward hissed as he recalled the agonizing experience.

Suddenly Alice looked like as if she's in immense agony, she held her head like it is being split in to two. She felt a sharp pain as if the remnant of what used to be her soul was being distorted and torn by an unseen power.

"Alice are you alright? What's happening?" Jasper fretfully asked while holding her in his arms.

"My vision….it's really strange. It…it's like a hazy forest. I can't see anything but mist, then suddenly everything became distorted and incomprehensible…..like looking at a kaleidoscopic vision of chaos. It was terrible" Alice replied gasping from the strain of her unpleasant ordeal

"Do you think he has something to do with this" Edward queried while the blonde and the rest of the Cullens suspiciously eyed the young man.

"I don't know but its seems likely" Naruto replied

A long minute of uncanny silence reigned over them as they all wordlessly concluded that further investigation must be carried out before they confront the mysterious stranger.

Meanwhile, Edward caught a gaze of Bella and decided to approach her.

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Bella was at the lunch line getting herself a salad that she somewhat assembled in an aesthetically pleasing manner.

"Edible art?" said a voice that startled her in to dropping an apple from the counter. But before the fruit could touch the ground it was kicked up and gracefully caught on the palms of the voice's owner. Bella gazed up but before she could compliment the skill she saw it was Edward. His eyes weren't brown anymore and he looks paler than before, though, surprisingly he is in a good mood.

"Bella" Edward greeted her with a smile.

"You know. Your mood swings is kind of giving me a whiplash" Bella retorted as she walked around the lunch line.

"I only said it would be better if we aren't friends not that I don't want to be" Edward calmly said in a soothing voice.

"What's that even mean?" Bella retorted with an inquiry in a somewhat irate tone.

"It means that if you're smart, you'll stay away from me."

"Ok let's say for arguments sake that I'm not smart. Would you tell me the truth? Bella hopefully asked while looking at his eyes.

"No…probably not" Edward gawkily replied as he quickly severed his eye contact. Bella sighed and turned away from him as well.

"I'd rather hear your theories" Edward then said.

At this point Eric, Alex and Jessica caught a glimpse of Mike staring jealously at Edward who's talking to Bella.

"I considered you have radioactive spiders and kryptonite" Said Bella that made Edward smile in amusement.

"It's all superhero stuff right? What if I'm not the hero, what if I'm the bad guy?" Edward said in a serious tone supplementing his sudden mood shift.

"You're not. I can see what you're trying to put off. But I can see that it's just to keep people away from you. It's a mask" Bella said that made Edward's eyebrows furrowed together in contemplation of what he just heard.

"Why don't we just hang out? Everyone's going to the beach…come. I mean have fun" Bella said eloquently that made Edward smile some more and genuinely considered to join them.

"Which beach?" Edward asked

"La Push" Bella replied which made Edward's smile drop instantly like an icicle blasted by a flamethrower.

"Is there something wrong with that beach?" Bella inquired. She was perplexed by Edward's sudden change of disposition

"I don't know...it's just" Edward mumbled, and then he was awkwardly silent for a while and quickly glanced at Bella's friends behind him. "It's just a little crowded" He retorted before walking out without any warning further confusing the already dumbfounded Bella.

"You ok Bella?" Alex inquired with a sincere gleam.

"Yeah…why did you ask?" Bella awkwardly answered as she lifted her tray.

"Well…You look kind of pensive" Alex replied ever so politely in the same awkward manner, which for some bizarre reason made Bella felt a little better.

"I'm good thanks for asking" Bella responded with a smile.

"Ah, see. You look much more beautiful when you smile" Alex said beaming as well that made Bella blush.

"Whatever" Is the only word she can cumbersomely utter before her face turned completely red.

"Are you sure you're ok? You look a little bit flushed. Would you like me to accompany you to the school infirmary?" Alex said looking her straight in the eyes, completely clueless of what he did but felt genuine concern for his new friend.

"I said Im fine" Bella agitatedly mumbled as she stormed back to their table leaving a dazed Alex who still don't have any idea what just happened.

"Ok" Alex awkwardly mumbled. " _Maybe she has her period?…yup that must be it_ " He thought, scratching his head in confusion.

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"Looks like pretty boy is pulling a fast one on your girl" Naruto teased Edward that bridled the vampire and made his eyes snap in barely controlled anger, narrowing its gaze on the young man.

"He doesn't look too clever though" Edward sniffed and said as he continuously gave Alex unkind glares.

"I would revise that assessment if I were you old chap" Naruto said in a mock accent akin that of Alex's. Making Edward turn and look at the blonde with a blank expression.

Naruto chuckled a bit before his tone became more serious "You see in my experience. The one who played the fool is usually the most cunning and often the most dangerous" He said as he recalled his past altercations with Obito.

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(Gym Class)

"Crowley shirts, Storm skins, Newton shirts, Yorkie skins, Cullen Shirts, Uzumaki skins….." Coach Clapp continuously howled in a deep, sharp voice as he segregated his students for basketball.

"Oh yeah! You guys ready to play some ball!" Naruto roared ecstatically. Basketball has been his favourite sport since he and Dr. Naismith invented it one rainy day, back in 1891. More than a century of practice and play made him practically unbeatable. He has been invited on more than one occasion to join the school varsity as people perceived him to have prodigious natural talent for the sport; offers he all but turned down without any explanation, much to the dismay and displeasure of Coach Clapp.

" _Well, at least someone's happy about gym class_ " Alex thought in amusement seeing the overly passionate blonde.

"Oh man. I hate this" Eric sulked.

"Don't worry about it man. At least were on the same team" Alex sanguinely said to console him. He then tilted his head to subtly point out Mike who's clearly not amused being teamed up with Edward, and apparently the feeling is mutual as the vampire can read the maledictions and less than pleasant things he's thinking.

"I wish I have your optimism" Eric replied. His gloomy mood has somewhat been slightly assuaged as he saw the humorous irked expression on Mike's face. Misery loves company, especially if the other guy is a little bit more miserable than you are.

"Oh lighten up buddy" Alex chuckled as he took off his shirt to prepare for the sport.

The air was suddenly silent. And for the second time; time seemingly grinds to a halt. The myriad of girls in the vicinity blushed red and for a fleeting moment most of the boys made themselves question their own gender preferences. Their eyes the size of dinner plates and their jaws nearly fell out as they beheld the shirtless Alex. The usual clothes he wear deceptively guised his lean but perfectly sculpted Greek-god body. But that irksome piece of cloth is now gone and his singularly defined upper-physique is all but bare for everyone to see. And a euphoria it was; especially for the vacant eyed, seemingly tranced young women whose bliss induced flushed faces are as red as the delicately blooming roses in the summer gardens of the palace of Versailles.

Edward felt the gnawing frustrations and despondency in his heart just grew as he caught a glimpse of Bella, who at the moment was so allured and captivated at the aesthetic paragon that is Alex. He may not be able to read her mind but a single glance on her face is all that is needed to reckon the naughty fantasies in her head.

"Pretty boy = 2, Edward = zilch" Naruto teased "I would do something about that if I were you" he then continued with a playful smile on his face.

Edward gave him an austere stare; which in reality is just a front to mask his jealousy. "I don't know what you're talking about" he then scoffed and was about to walk out.

"I think we both know what I'm talking about. Don't go all emo on me when she picked him over you" Naruto said in a sagely but sarcastic tone that made Edward pause and come to his senses.

"What would you have me do then?" Edward sneered in a rage fuelled but hushed, whispering voice as he finally snapped.

"Ok. First calm down, I'm here to help you. Second, this guy plays in a completely different league. Let's admit the fact that your natural charms is no match for someone that looks like a _gay guy_ designed in a genetics _lab. You see I did some research and as if things aren't bad enough I found out that Alex stud-muffin over there is from some fancy aristocratic family. His real name is Lord Alexander Altairus d'Sanguinus-Storm, if you're feeling formal, that is. That's why we should step up your game ya' know!" Naruto explained in the same sagely but this time encouraging tone._

 _"Step up my game? What do you mean?" Edward inquired with a cloud of bewilderment in his face._

 _Naruto's sagely aura suddenly dropped like a fly. "Yeah…we have a lot of work to do" he then said in an uneasy monotonous voice and with a blank face as he realized that this task wouldn't be that easy, in fact it would be very much the opposite._

 _"That stuff you said about being designed by a gay guy in a lab. You just ripped that from a movie didn't you?" Edward wryly inquired with a supressed smirk on his deadpan face._

 _"That's not the point ya' know!" Naruto retorted in a comical aggravated outburst._

Meanwhile, Alex as usual is completely oblivious and clueless of the effects he had and just set about his business like nothing is amiss.

" _Great! The last thing I need is some clueless himbo turning these girls in to hormone crazed rabid animals...Ridiculous! I don't get paid enough for this. Not even close._ " The etched Coach Clapp thought sarcastically in derision and disbelief as he watched his distracted female students. "Storm! Put your shirt back on son. You and Newton are switching teams" he said regaining his senses back and much of his authoritarian disposition.

Mike seemed relieved being relinquished from the torment of teaming up with _freaky Cullen_ , as he puts it. While Alex on the other hand don't seem too keen on taking up Mike's place as he is being eyed quite darkly by Edward.

"Lighten up buddy!" Eric teased as he saw Alex's staggered expression upon hearing Coach Clapp's announcement.

"I wish I have your optimism" Alex retorted in a sarcastic tone that sent Eric in to a fit of roaring wild laughter.

"Yorkie! Shut up and get your ass in here!" Yelled Coach Clapp that made everyone snigger.

Irony is such a funny thing indeed.

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That night Bella had a strange and rather eerie dream. She found herself in a stunning but uncanny realm overlooking the ruins of a once grand and magnificent ancient city that is now plagued by a haunting silence from eons of being forsaken by its equally antediluvian denizens. For reasons she couldn't fully comprehend she decided to walk towards its direction and approach it.

The ruins lie a mile or two to the east of her current location. With narrow but steady strides she manages to get closer and closer, passing a field of strange and alien like vegetation on the interlude that looked like giant blood-tinged sunflowers that swayed rhythmically at the sound of her footsteps. Bella walked a little bit further and was finally able to gain enough proximity from the ruins for closer inspection. She was horrified however, as she found out that the said ruins is a great and surreal necropolis of some sort. Its outer walls seemed to be constructed from quadrilateral crystal sarcophagi stacked upon each other like bricks. The corpses entombed within were transparently visible and wore the garbs of a forgotten civilization from time immemorial. They remained uncorrupted, projecting an illusion of life as they seemed to be only in a state of deep slumber, eternally dreaming.

She mustered enough courage to walk passed through the macabre wall and saw the mottled remnants of a once proud watch-tower wrought of ghost white marble that appeared to have served as a defensive edifice in the past along with myriad of curious obsidian monoliths etched with incomprehensible runes from a language long forgotten.

Bella walked further and saw an eerie glow emanating from the portal of the inner citadel. Her curiosity impelled her feet to stride in to the citadel's direction. As she entered its threshold, she beheld a grand and majestic tree the size of a luxury cruiser and as tall as a modern skyscraper. Within the heart of the tree's decussating spire like inner branches lies what seemed to be a miniature blue sun wreathed with black coronal flares and was scintillating rays of dazzling effulgence. The intense and strange brilliance momentarily bereft Bella of her senses and enthralled her in to a trancelike state.

Bizarre and dark visions flashed before her eyes as the prodigious phantom rays of the elfin star touched her skin.

She saw a great and terrible war between grotesque creatures under the command of a colossal cyclopean monster and humans with strange powers being led by Naruto and a rather unfamiliar raven haired boy, like generals. The battle was horrific and bloody but Naruto and his forces managed to secure a victory. Though, triumph was as bitter as defeat for all the belligerents perished in its conclusion, save for the grief stricken golden haired warrior.

Another vision materialized before Bella like vapour fogging a mirror. She saw Edward being stabbed with a shimmering ethereal lance by what appeared to be an angel; causing the former to crack and shatter in to incalculable fragments like powdery broken glass.

She then woke up, gasping from a dream she couldn't remember nor could she recall the phantasmagorical and cryptic visions vouchsafed by the great tree and its clairvoyant star. Bella looked over her shoulder, unintentionally gazing upon her window and saw a breath-taking sight. The night sky was strangely unhindered by the nigh ubiquitous clouds and the landscape was bathed with the gentle iridescent shimmer from the stars and the peering moon who revealed their light with uncanny lustre along with a great meteor shower that smote the skies with innumerable traces of glittering fiery trails.

 **End**

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 **AN: Hey there folks!**

 **Finally, in spite of an extremely busy week I managed to finish this chapter.**

 **So in this chapter I decided to introduce another character (Alex) that would make things more interesting. To those who are wondering, I primarily modelled his physical appearance between Francisco Lachowski and Pietro Bosselli….so just imagine the too having a love child and that's what he'll probably looked like lol. Kidding aside he'll play a major role in the following chapters and in the overall story per se.**

 **I hoped you enjoyed reading and as always I highly appreciate your comments and suggestions.**

 **See you next chapter folks.**

 **Cheerio!**


	5. Chapter 5: The Nomads

The next morning, Bella was waked by an unusual brightness. She opened her eyes and saw a clear yellow light streaming at her window. She couldn't quite believe it and hurried to check. Sure enough, there was the sun, though it was in the wrong place in the sky. "Too low" she thought. Clouds ringed the horizon but a large patch of blue was visible in the middle. She lingered by the window as long as she could; afraid that if she left even for a while the blue will disappear again.

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(La Push: First Beach)

It was only fifteen miles to La Push from Forks; with gorgeous green forest etching the road most of the way and the wide Quileute River snaking beneath it twice. The weather was pleasant along the way and Bella soaked up much sunlight as possible, but the ominous clouds suddenly materialized and the sky became opaque again, and the temperature dropped slightly. Nonetheless, it was still breath-taking. The water was dark grey, and islands rose out of the steel harbour waters which was sheer cliff size, reaching in to unevenly undulating summits and crowned with steer soaring firs.

The beach had only a thin border of actual sand at the water's edge; after which it grew in to millions of large smooth stones that looked uniformly grey from a distance but up close were every shade a stone could be.

The tideline was strewn with huge driftwood trees, bleached bone-white in the salt waves; some piled together at the edge of the forest fringe, some lying solitary just out of reach of the waves.

There was a brisk wind coming from the waves. It was cool and briny. Pelicans floated on the swells while seagulls and a lone eagle wheeled above them.

They picked their way down to the beach with Mike leading them to a ring of drift wood logs that has been obviously been used for parties like theirs before. There was a fire circle already in place, filled with black ashes.

Eric and the other boys gathered broken branches of driftwood from the dryer piles against the forest edge and soon has tepee shaped construction build a top of the old cinders

"It's freezing in here." When are you guys planning to light it? And where's Alex by the way? Are you sure he's coming?" Jessica queried with a bit of irritation in her face.

"Relax Jessica. I called him a while ago. He's coming, just got a little lost on the way here" Eric explained while putting on his wetsuit. "Have you ever seen a driftwood fire?" He then turned to Bella who was seating on one of the bone coloured benches.

"Why didn't he tag along with us by the way?" Tyler asked as he lit one of the smaller sticks with a cigarette lighter and then placed the now blazing twig carefully on the tepee. The dry wood quickly started to catch fire, crackling as it burned in multi-hued flames.

"I'm not sure but I heard him said something about picking up his ride or something like that" Mike answered, a bit uncertain himself though it was sufficient to satisfy the curiosities of the enquiring crowd.

Meanwhile Bella and Angela moved to a car nearby as they conversed "So I keep thinking that Eric is going to ask me to the prom and he just…doesn't" Angela said with a gloomy tone

"You should ask him. Take control you're a strong, independent woman" Bella encouraged her.

"I am?" Angela said as her eyes slowly bristled with hope.

"Yes" Bella firmly replied that made Angela smile and be filled with courage.

"Bella" A voice greeted Bella which made her turn around to see a face she hadn't seen for a while. It was Jacob Black along with two of his friends Sam Uley and Embry Call.

"Hi Jacob. Guys this is Jacob" Bella greeted back and introduced Jacob and his friends

Jacob sat next to Bella "What are you stalking me?" she teased him.

"You're in our resz remember?" Jacob teased back.

Suddenly a basalt black 2009 Porsche Carrera-GT got their attention as it parked near them. They were further astounded when they learned that Alex was the driver behind it.

"I'm so sorry for being late. I kinda took the wrong turn back there. I hope I didn't miss anything" Alex said as he clumsily exit his car in frantic.

"Whoa! Nice car dude!" Eric said with a shimmer in his eyes.

"Thanks, she's my favourite" Alex said, regaining some of his composure as he and Eric approached the others. Bella introduced him to Jacob and his friends who he got along just fine.

"Are you surfing?" Jacob asked Bella.

"Definitely not" Bella replied while offering him some liquorish.

"You guys should keep Bella company. Uhm…her date bailed" Jessica said in a semi-concerned sweet tone, masking her hidden angst against Bella.

"What date?" Eric inquired with a harsh quivering voice and a worried look.

"She invited Edward" Jessica giggled.

"To be polite that's it" Bella awkwardly said as she recalled her conversation with Edward at the cafeteria.

"I think it's nice she invited him….nobody ever does" Angela said with a genuine expression of commiseration on her face.

"Yeah cause Cullen's a freak" Mike said without hesitation as if some bottled up annoyance finally surged out of his system like a solar flare.

"You got that right" Sam said in agreement.

"You guys know him?" Bella wondered.

"The Cullens don't come here" He replied which bewildered Bella more than before. Subsequently, they caught a gaze on the awkwardly silent Alex as if he is in deep contemplation.

"Something bothering you man?" Mike asked him.

"Well now that you mentioned it. I've been getting a lot of nasty glares from Edward and his friend lately. I don't know why though" Alex replied with both a disturbed and bemused expression.

"You mean Naruto?" Angela inferred.

"Yeah…the one who looks like a solid belieber" Alex quipped that made everyone laugh except Bella who's curiosity was further fuelled.

Unbeknownst to them Naruto, utilizing **Toton no Jutsu** was listening to their conversation 200 feet away. " _Belieber huh? I will smash that pretty boy's face! Believe it!_ " He thought with a funny exasperated expression on his face and a cruciform popping vein in his forehead.

Bella and Jacob started walking on the beach. Leaving Angela with Sam and Embry to keep her company while the others are surfing, or in the case of Alex, peering on a pair of binoculars in hopes that some less diffident whales would reveal themselves.

"What did your friends mean about, you know, the Cullens don't come here?" Bella asked, realizing it is the perfect opportunity for such an inquiry.

"You caught that huh?" Jacob replied "I'm not really supposed to say anything about it" he further supplemented with a nervous voice

"Hey can I keep a secret" Bella said with a gentle smile.

"Really it's just like an old scary story" Jacob said followed by an involuntary and odd sounding nervous laugh as he is about to be cornered from the cascade of questions that has been increasingly insurmountable to avoid.

"Well, I want to know" Bella said in a persuading tone coupled with puppy dog eyes that made Jacob finally submit and furnish her with the information she's desired.

"Ok uhm, did you know Quileutes are supposed to be descended from wolves" Jacob told her with much enthusiasm.

"What? Like wolves? Real wolves" Bella amusedly queried

"Well that's the legend of our tribe"

"Ok…..so what's the story about the Cullen's"

Jacob took a second before answering her question as if he is carefully choosing the words that will come out of his mouth "Well they're supposed to be descended to this...like enemy clan. My great-grandfather, the chief found them hunting in our land. But they claim to be something different so we made a treaty with them. If they promise to stay off from Quileute lands then we won't expose who they really were to the pale faces."

"I thought they just moved here" Bella said. She felt that her curiosity and confusion is starting to eat through her again

"Or just moved back" Jacob replied

They were suddenly alerted by a shriek. But it turns out that it was just Angela being pranked by Eric.

"What are they exactly?" Bella asked once more in hopes that Jacob will reveal more information.

"It's just a story Bella. Come on lets go" Jacob looked amused but no longer willing to tell more.

As soon as Bella got home she got on her laptop and looked up Quileute legends. She found a website that redirected her to a Quileute bookstore called Thunder Bird and Whale located in Port Angeles. She then clicked maps and wrote the bookstore's address on a piece of paper.

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Waylon was at the docks fixing his boat while listening to some music when suddenly he noticed that someone's lurking around.

"Joe?" He called in hopes that it was just his friend who unexpectedly arrived.

But there was no answer. Waylon became increasingly worried, starting the boat then putting it on reverse for a quick escape as he thought that a wild animal such as a wolf or perhaps a bear has wondered near in search of food. He suddenly felt the boat waggle as if it was dragged forward by a creature of immense strength. He lost his balance and stumbled in to the boat.

As he stood up, he was surprised and mesmerized to see a beautiful woman standing in front of him. She had long, curly, bright orange hair that look like fire and possessed a seductive, feline beauty.

"Hello" Waylon said in a flirtatious tone but was suddenly startled when he heard a voice behind his back.

"Nice Jacket" Said the voice in a feral like tone. Waylon turned around and saw a muscular man with long blond hair tied behind his back like a ponytail. The latter was looking at him at him like a lion staring at his prey before going for the kill.

"Who are you" Waylon asked, nervously.

"It's always the same questions. Who are you?" The blond man said mockingly. He seemed to find pleasure tormenting him.

"What do you want?" The orange haired woman supplemented.

"Why are you doing this?" The blonde man once again continued.

"James, let's not play with our food." Said another voice. Waylon looked under his shoulder and saw a dark skinned man with dreadlocks and was garbed in the fashion of the previous centuries.

The orange haired woman moved with blinding swiftness and then kicked Waylon, making him fall flat on his boat. The trio of vampires abruptly pressed him on the floor; they then sank their teeth on him and fed on his blood until he died.

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The next morning Bella was yet again awakened by the bright sunlight emanating though her window. The temperature was pleasantly warm and cozy. It was quite rare for the sun to reveal itself in this cloudy little town, and rarer still for it to do so twice in succession. She washed and dressed in less than half the time she usually does to relish the meteorological miracle.

Arriving at school earlier than she usually does; she saw everyone was apparently in a good mood and basking in the warm radiance of the relatively extraordinary phenomenon. Jessica was sunbathing on a table, while Mike, Tyler and Eric were playing frisbee, and Alex seemed to be content reading a book under the shade of a tree. Her eyes where animate however, searching for a particularly illusive face she couldn't spot among the crowd.

"He's not here." Jessica said concisely; accurately deducing who she's looking for. "Whenever the weather's nice, the Cullen's disappear." She then continued while soaking as much vitamin-D as possible.

"What? Do they just ditch?" Bella inquired honestly. There's no longer a reason for subterfuge since she already got caught.

"No, Dr. and Mrs. Cullen yank them out for camping and hiking, and stuff…I tried that on my parents, not even close." Jessica replied. The sunlight distracted her from normally asking several counter-inquiries for every question she answers.

"Guys!" Jessica said as she rushed to them. "I'm going to the prom with Eric, I took control." she then continued excitedly as she announced the good news to Bella and Jessica.

"I told you that would happen." Bella said with a broad smile and hugged Angela.

"Are you sure you have to go out of town." Angela asked Bella in a downcast tone.

"Yeah. It's a family thing" Bella responded.

"Okay, we should go shopping at Port Angeles before all the good dresses get cleaned out" Jessica suggested.

"Port Angeles? Can I come?" Bella sheepishly queried.

"Yeah…I need your opinion." Angela excitedly responded.

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(Bella's House – After School)

Bella had fish marinating for dinner along with salad and bread left from the night before. There's no house work left for her to do and decided to spend a focused half-hour on homework but before she knew it, she's finished all of them too. She then opened her laptop and checked her email, seeing the back logged emails from Reneè, getting snippier as they progressed to the present. She sighed as she typed a quick response:

" _Mom,_

 _I've been out. Went to the beach with some friends_

 _and I have to write a paper."_

She realized that her excuse was pathetic, so she gave up on that and wrote a new one.

" _It's sunny outside. I know...I'm shocked too. So I'm going outside and soak up as much vitamin-D as I could._

 _I love you._

 _Bella"_

After a while, Bella decided to kill an hour with non-school related reading. She had a small collection of books she brought with him to forks, the shabbiest volume being a compilation of the works of Jane Austin, which she selected, then grabbing a ragged old quilt from the linen cupboard she went out to the backyard.

Outside in Charlie's small-square yard she folded the quilt in half and laid it down of the reach of the trees' shadows, on the thick lawn that would always be slightly wet no matter how long the sun shone. She lay on her stomach crossing her ankles in the air, flipping through the different novels in the book, trying to decide which would occupy her mind the most thoroughly. Her favourites were Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility.

She read the first most recently so she started reading Sense and Sensibility, only to remember after she began reading on chapter three that the hero of the story happened to be named Edward. Angrily, she turned in to Mansfield Park, but the hero of that piece is named Edmund, and that was just too close.

"Weren't any other names available in the 18th century?" She said annoyed as she snapped the book shut and rolled over to her back.

She pushed her sleeves up as high as they would go and closed her eyes.

" _I would think nothing but the warmth of my skin."_ She told herself, severely.

The breeze was still light but it blew ten rolls of her hair and it tickled a bit. She pulled all of her hair over her head, letting it fan out on the quilt above her, and focused again on the heat that touched her eyelids, her cheek bones, her nose, her lips, her forearms and her neck, soaked through her light shirt. The tender-warm rays of the sun were so soothing that she inadvertently fell asleep.

Bella then found herself once again face to face with the great tree from her past dream. She saw the elfin star within its inner branches quivering, its flares engulfing the fiery sphere like blight. A burst of monochromic wave of energy then emanated as it collapsed upon itself. The monoliths, the watch-tower, the macabre wall and even the landscape itself surreally disintegrated like a feeble flame blown away by the winds of darkness, leaving nothing but a void and empty space. All that remained of the once awe-inspiring realm were the great tree itself and a violently convulsing amorphous energy that used to be its symbiote star.

Bella then beheld as the nebulous energy blackened like an eclipse and warped itself in to an anthroporphic shape. It took the form similar to a pitch-black silhouette of a youth, and was riddled with star-like spots all over its shadow-like body, as if someone took a piece of the infinite universe and shaped it in to the looming entity .

A cloak of fiery white energy ignited and emanated from the entity as it opened its glowing eyes. Bella froze in fear as she realized that the former's attention is now turned to her. She tried to run in to the nothingness of the void but the eldritch being blinked itself in front of her.

"Isabella" It then held out its hand and spoke in a cold, eerie and echoing voice.

"Get away from me!" Bella screamed in fear.

The entity paid no attention to her frantic and continued to hover closer and closer to where she stood.

"Bella" She then heard a pleasantly penetrating voice that roused her from her nightmare. "Bella wake-up."

The entity and the dream then dissolved like foam as her senses returned to the waking world. As she slowly opened her eyes, the first thing she saw are strikingly beautiful and iridescent pair of sapphire-like bright-blue eyes staring at her, its owner was dangerously close to her face.

Flabbergasted, the first thing that came in mind was a particular move she learned at self-defence class, back in Phoenix. She thumped the guy right on his chin then kneed him on the groin. She then quickly stood up and reached to her back pocket for the pepper spray that Charlie gave her.

"Who are you? I'm gon'na call the police!" Bella demanded while aiming the pepper spray at her assailant, who was still groaning in pain.

"Ouch! What you do that for Bella? And what's with the pepper spray?" He bellowed in a familiar accented voice.

"Alex? Is that you?" Bella inquired with a confused expression on her face.

"Yeah, it's me." Alex awkwardly retorted in a relatively wobbly and squeaky voice while trying to stand up.

"What are you doing here?" Bella asked suspiciously. Not letting her guard down, she had the pepper spray's nozzle still aimed at Alex's face.

"You left this at Biology class earlier so Angela and I came here to give it back." Alex grunted while handing Bella her notebook. "We heard you screaming so I sprinted as fast as I could to check what's happening and saw you lying on the ground, apparently having a nightmare of some sort. When I tried to wake you up…you whacked me in the chin and kneed me in the...well, in the….oh you know very well where!" He then continued with an expression of extreme discomfort on his face. "Okay, could we put away the bloody pepper spray now?"

"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry. Are you alright?" Bella staggeringly said as she slowly realized what really happened.

"Well aside from the fact that I'm possibly no longer capable of ever siring children…Yes, I suppose I am." Alex said, still trying to lighten things up even though in obvious pain.

As if on cue, Angela nervously walked in with her phone clasped in one hand. "I already called 91….Oh my God what happened!" She cried-out shocked as she saw Bella helping Alex stand-up. The young man looked like he was brutally attacked.

"There was a little accident but it was nothing." Alex responded.

"Yeah, it was a false alarm" Bella sheepishly supplemented.

Sure enough, Charlie's cruiser came screeching in after a few minutes, and it would appear that he brought the entire Forks police force with him. It was an awkward moment that became gradually more uncomfortable as they explained how it was all a mistake.

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Later that day the awkward situation finally quells down and everyone went on their way home. Bella then remembered that dinner's not ready yet so she immediately started preparing it.

"Sorry Dad. Dinner's gon'na be late tonight." Bella said as she fried the fish.

"Don't worry about it. I wanted to catch the score on the game anyway." Charlie said as he hanged his gun belt and step out of his boots.

After they had dinner, Bella decided to watch TV with Charlie, for something to do. There isn't anything on she wanted to watch though. The former knew she didn't really liked baseball and turned the channel to some mindless sitcom that neither of them enjoyed. He seemed happy nonetheless, that he and his daughter are doing something together. Same goes with Bella, despite her depression.

"Dad?" Bella said during a commercial "Jessica and Angela are going to look for dresses tomorrow night and they wanted me to help them choose. Do you mind if I go with them?"

"Jessica Stanley?" Charlie asked.

"And Angela Webber" Bella sighed as she gave him the details.

"But you're not going to the dance right?" Charlie queried again, confused.

" No dad, but I'm helping them find dresses. You know. Giving them constructive criticisms" Bella explained " _I wouldn't have to explain this to a woman_ " She then thought.

"Well…ok" Charlie gawkily said, realizing he's out of his depth with the girly stuff. "It's a school night though?"

"We'll leave right after school so we could get back early. You'll be okay for dinner right?"

"Bells, I fed myself for 17 years before you got her" Charlie reminded him.

"I don't know how you survived." Bella muttered. "I'll leave some things for the cold cut sandwich okay. Right on top." She then continued.

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The weather was fairly nice in the morning. Bella awakened with a renewed hope that she grimly tried to suppress. She dressed for the warmer weather in a deep blue, V-neck blouse, something she wore in the dead of winter in Phoenix.

She planned her arrival at school so that she's barely in time to make it to class. With a sinking heart she circled the full lot looking for a space, while also searching for the silver Volvo that was clearly not there. Bella parked in the last row and hurried to English, arriving breathless but subdued before the final bell. It was the same as yesterday; she couldn't keep little sprouts of hope from budding in her mind, only to have them squashed painfully as she searched the lunch room in vain.

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After school Jessica followed Bella home in her old white Mercury so that the latter could ditch her books and truck. Bella brushed her hair quickly when she was inside, feeling a slight lift of excitement as she contemplated getting out of Forks. She then left a note for Charlie on the table, explaining again where to find dinner.

Switching her scruffy wallet and school bag to a purse she rarely use, she ran out to join Jessica. They went to Angela's house next and she's waiting for them. Bella's excitement increased exponentially as they drove out of the town's limits.

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(Port Angeles)

Jessica drove fast, much faster than Charlie so they made it to their destination by four. It has been a while since Bella had a girl's night out and the estrogen rush was invigorating. They listened to whiny rock songs while Jessica jabbered on about her dinner with Mike, who apparently has gone very well.

Port Angeles was a beautiful little tourist trap, much more polished and quaint than Forks. But Jessica and Angela knew it well so they didn't plan to waste time on the picturesque board walk by the bay. They drove straight to the one big department store in town, which was a few streets in from the bay area's visitor friendly face.

The dress section wasn't large but both of them found something to try on. Bella sat on a low chair outside the dressing room, contemplating about the bookstore she wanted to visit while in town.

Jessica ended torn between two dresses. The first was a long, strapless, basic black number, and the other was a knee length, electric blue spaghetti straps.

"The blue…It'll bring out your eyes." Bella said. Jessica did have startling blue eyes, in contrast to her brown, curly hair.

Angela on the other hand, chose a pale pink dress that draped over her tall frame nicely. Bella complimented both of them generously and helped by returning the reject to their racks.

"Ok I like this one, it makes my boobs look good." Jessica said while trying on a pink dress.

Suddenly a group of louts passed by, one of them knocked on the glass. "Hey Nice" He said, ribaldry , while ogling the girls.

"Bella what do you think?" She then inquired as soon as the group of ruffians left, hoping for a positive opinion.

"Looks great" Bella said

"You said that about like the last five dresses though." Jessica responded, not convinced of Bella's replies.

"I thought they were all pretty good" Bella again said, smiling.

"You're not really all in to this are you?" Angela said with a gentle voice, deducing that Bella's lack of interest and distraction.

"I just really want to go in to the book store." Bella said honestly. "Meet you guys in the restaurant."

"Are you sure" Jessica asked her.

"Yeah. See you in a minute"

"Okay" Both Jessica and Angela exclaimed.

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Bella hadn't had any trouble looking for the bookstore. She shifted through the selection of various books and saw the particular volume she was looking for. She then headed straight to the counter, paid the item and went on her way to rendezvous with Angela and Jessica.

"Have a good night." Said the bookstore attendant as Bella egressed the premises.

"Thank you"

Bella started to walk along the alley, in to a few shops around the corner; but as she crossed another road, she realized that she's going the wrong direction as she couldn't see the landmark she passed on her way to the bookstore. Furthermore, it looks like the buildings where she's at are mostly warehouses. She decided to turn east on the next corner and loop around after a few blocks, and try her luck on a different street on her way to the board walk.

A group of four men turned around the corner where she's heading. They were dressed too casually to be heading home from the office, but were too grime to be tourists. As they approached Bella, she realized that they were not too many years older than she is. They were joking loudly among themselves, laughing raucously and punching each other's arms.

Bella scooted as far to the inside of the sidewalk as she could to give them room, walking swiftly and looking past them to the corner.

"Hey there!" One of them called as they passed. And he was obviously talking to her since nobody else is around.

She glanced up automatically. Two of them have paused while the other two were slowing. The closest, a heavy set dark haired man in his early twenties seemed to be the one who have spoken. Bella then looked away and walked faster towards the corner. She could hear them laughing at full volume behind her.

"Hey wait!" One of them called after her again.

She kept her head down and rounded the corner with a sigh of relief, she could still hear them chortling behind her. Bella then found herself in a sidewalk leading passed the back of several sombre coloured warehouses, each with large bay doors for unloading trucks, padlocked for the night. The south-side of the street had no sidewalk, only chain link fence topped with barbed wire protecting some kind of engine parts storage yard. She then realized that she have wondered far past the part of Port Angeles that she, a guest, was intended to see.

The crunch of gravel startled her, and made her glance around to see the two men from the group she passed by a little over five minutes ago, walking quietly about twenty feet behind her. It gave Bella an unnerving sensation and her heart started to beat faster.

She started to rummage at her purse only to realize that she left her pepper spray at home. _"Of all time."_ She thought, distressed.

Suddenly the dark haired man who cat called her earlier suddenly appeared with his other friend and intercepted her path, while the other two behind her was getting ever closer, entrapping her, preventing any escape.

"There she is" he said, lewdly. "What's up girl" he then continued as he ogled her.

"Where are you going?"

"Hang out with us?"

"What's the problem?"

The others wheeled around Bella, perversely eyeing her like vultures who just found fresh carrion.

"Don't touch me" Bella muttered. Her warning was supposed to be strong and fearless, but it came out scared and small.

They were all completely drunk; her protest fell on deaf ears and laughed raucously instead. One of them grabbed her, intending to rip her clothes off and rape her.

Suddenly a silver Volvo appeared, almost hitting the stocky one, forcing him to jump back away from her and in to the side-walk.

"Get in the car" Edward, who was the driver of the Volvo said as he got out of his car. He then glared at the four severely, wanting to tear them apart.

Bella jumped in to the car as quickly as she could and slammed the door shut, locking it with fumbling fingers.

"That was a very dangerous…move." The stocky one said but his voice quavered in the end. He was taken aback and suddenly felt sober from an intense fear he couldn't comprehend, as he beheld Edward's angry glare.

Edward then hopped back in to his car. Its tire squealed as the the machine spun around and face north, accelerating too quickly, swerving the stunned men on the street.

" _He drives like he's drag racing."_ Bella thought as Edward turned left sharply and exited on the main road, overtaking other cars.

"I should go back there and rip those guys' heads off." Edward said, bridled in barely controlled anger.

"No you shouldn't" Bella said, trying to calm him down.

"You don't know the vile, repulsive things they're thinking." Edward retorted.

"And you do?" Bella inquired.

The question caught Edward by surprise and temporarily forgot his wrath. "It's not hard to guess. Will you talk about something else? Distract me so I won't turn around." He then said, fabricating a believable premise and diverting the topic as they go.

"You should put your seatbelt on." Bella told him.

Edward laughed tautly. "Why don't you should put your seatbelt on?" He then said.

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It was past six-thirty when Bella arrived at the restaurant where she, Angela and Jessica decided to meet after their respective business.

"Where were you? We left you messages." Angela inquired, worried but seemed relieved when she saw Bella.

"Yeah we waited but we're like starving so….." Jessica said, sharing the same sentiment with Angela but was suddenly cut-off when she saw who Bella was apparently with.

"I'm sorry I kept Bella from dinner. We just sort of ran to each other and start talking" Edward said in a velvety voice that made both girls giggle.

"No. we totally understand. That happens right?" Jessica said with a smile, now in full comprehension of the reason behind Bella's late arrival.

"Uhmm we were…" Bella said but couldn't finish her sentence.

"Oh yeah we were just leaving" Jessica finished the sentence for her. She and Angela are giggling, an indication that they would extract every juicy detail of Bella's 'date' with Edward.

"I think I should make sure Bella has something to eat" Edward then said "If you like? I'll drive you home myself." he then continued, looking at Bella, to which she just awkwardly nodded.

"That's really thoughtful." Angela said with a smile, happy for her friend."

"Yeah, I should eat something." Bella gawkily concurred.

"So see you tomorrow." Jessica said, the smile on her face might as well say 'and tell me everything!'

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"Alright, one mushroom ravioli." The waitress served Bella her order but her attention seemed to be focused on Edward. "So are you sure there isn't anything I can get you?" She then queried flirtatiously.

"No. no thank you" Edward replied in a low, attractive voice.

"Let me know" The waitress said yet again, and in the same flirtatious tone that made Bella's eyebrows furrow.

"You're really not gon'na eat?" Bella asked him while whirling her fork on the pasta.

"No, I'm on a special diet." Edward replied, smiling.

"You got to give me some answers."

"hmmm…yes, no, to get to the other side, 1.77725…"

"I don't want to know the square-root of Pi is." Bella retorted, a bit miffed.

"You knew that?"

"How do you know where I was?"

"I didn't"

"Right" Bella had it and was about to walk out on him.

"Bella…don't leave" Edward sighed.

"Did you follow me?"

"I feel very protective of you."

"So you followed me?"

"I tried keep my distance unless you needed my help and then I heard what those lowlifes are thinking."

Wait. You said you heard what they were thinking?" Bella inquired that made Edward paused and sigh. "So you read minds?" She then said in a tone that is more like an assumption than an inquiry.

"I can read every mind in this room….apart from yours." Edward decided to answer her honestly. "Money, sex, money, cat…and then you, nothing…It's very frustrating" He then continued, pointing out to Bella the thoughts of everyone in the room, except hers.

"Is there something wrong with me?" Bella wondered.

"I just told you I can read minds, and you think there's something wrong with you" Edward chuckled. The expression in his face suddenly turned sombre.

"What is it?" Bella asked.

"I don't have the strength to stay away from you anymore"

"Then don't"

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Meanwhile, the men who attempted to rape Bella earlier regrouped in a secluded part of Port Angeles. Along with some other louts, they partied, drinking beer and playing music in their cars, loudly.

"What happened a while ago was really weird huh?" One of the men said.

"Forget that!" The other replied, handing him another can of beer and turning the music in to max volume.

"How annoying that sound is" A shadowy figure on an unlit corner said in a soft-spoken but eerie and echoing voice.

"Who's there?" The dark haired man demanded with a stentorian voice, pulling a gun and aiming it on the stranger.

"Nobody. Just a wanderer enjoying the evening air." The entity once again spoke coldly and tranquil then revealed himself to be the same dark deity who obliterated the elemental nations and confined the sage of six paths in an otherworldly dimensional prison.

Out of fright the man fired his gun continuously until he's out of bullets, but it was in vain as the eldritch entity laughed at his futile efforts. A demonic grin then formed from its silhouette like, featureless face as he unleashed a bolt of monochromatic living lightning on to the thugs. The bizarre but frighteningly destructive fulmination leaped and branched out from target to target like it has a mind of its own, becoming more furious with every fresh arc.

The carnage was so gruesome and mind-shattering to behold. Every living being in the vicinity was instantly destroyed for they burst and exploded like balloons filled with blood as the eldritch lightning bolt connected. All that remained were red stains on the ground and on the walls, and fiery trails from where the intense bolts ignited the air and melted concrete as it travelled.

"Naruto….soon." The dark god said in a cold, eerie echoing voice. Then with a flash of blinding iridescent light disappeared in to utter nothingness, leaving only a blood curdling, echoing laughter that sounded like the requiem of madness.

 **-End**

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 **AN: Hey there folks**

 **Sorry it took a longer than usual for me to update the story. You won't believe how busy this week was lol.**

 **Anyways, I hope you enjoyed reading, and as always, comments and suggestions to improve the story are perpetually appreciated.**

 **Cheerio**


	6. Chapter 6: Memento Mori

Edward accelerated his Volvo dangerously fast on their way back to Forks, while Bella on the other hand can't help herself but stare at him with a confounded expression on her face. The conversation they had back at the restaurant was quite interesting, so to speak. Though his confession partially satisfied her pondering, it also generated a myriad of even more profound questions. A trace of renewed curiosity lingered and nurtured itself at the back of her head like a half-smothered ember that has been dropped in to a heap of dried leaves, and has secretly fed itself, biding for the time when it shall once again become an all-consuming flame that will burn an ever larger hole in her mind.

"Ok, I think I'm warm enough now." Bella said, reaching for the heater-dial at the same time Edward did as well, though the latter pulled his hand away quickly as it touched hers. She felt something strange about him. It roused her concern for it was uncanny; his hand was strangely cold, like a stone. "Your hand is so cold." She then continued but Edward didn't respond and just kept on driving.

Bella felt that she offended Edward somehow and opted to be taciturn but vigilant. Her attention however, was turned to the flashing police lights as they were about to pass the police station.

"What is going on?" Bella said, curious and concerned. "My dad's still here. Can you pull in?" She then continued as she saw Charlie's cruiser still parked out front.

Edward did so and parked his car in between Charlie's cruiser and a black Mercedes S550 "It's my father's car in the end. What's he doing here?" He commented, wondering.

"Carlisle what's going on?" Edward then asked Carlisle, who was just exiting the station's door.

"Waylon Forge was found in the woods out near his place. I just examined his body." Carlisle sighed and responded in a somber tone. Edward darkened upon hearing it and Bella was horrified.

"He died? What happened?" Bella asked. She couldn't believe what she just heard.

"Animal attack" Carlisle told her. He and Edward inconspicuously looked at each other, wordlessly concurring that Waylon was murdered by a vampire.

"Was it the same one that killed the security guard down at Mason." Bella said. She caught Carlisle and Edward subtly trading looks. Clearly there's more to this than they're letting her on.

"Most likely" Carlisle responded with a somber expression on his face.

"It's getting closer to town…" Bella said but was cut-off by Carlisle.

"Bella. You should go inside. Waylon was your father's friend." Carlisle told her in a gentle voice.

"Okay" Bella said in agreement as she could only surmise the pain Charlie must be going through right now. "Uhm…I'll see you later." She then said to Edward before entering the threshold of the police station.

She saw Charlie devastated, sitting on his desk, looking at the photos, reports and evidences. Trying to make sense of his friend's death. He knew instinctively that there's more to this than just a mere animal attack.

"Hey" Bella said in a low and solemn voice. "Dad I'm sorry about Waylon." She continued.

"Known him going to thirty years" Charlie said, transparently torn up from Waylon's sudden and unpleasant passing.

Bella placed her hand on to Charlie's shoulder to comfort him, which the latter held gently and squeezed. It's one of the few rare moments when the awkward barriers between her and the latter were broken and regards for each other's well-being predominates.

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(Cullen's Residence)

It was already passed ten o'clock when Carlisle and Edward arrived. The expression on everyone's faces turned dark and hard as Carlisle told them about the earlier incident. They feared that the ripples caused by the incident would be significant enough to reach the attention of the Volturi, evoking their wrath.

"Nomads?" Esme inquired, nervously.

"Most likely" Carlisle replied, agreeing with her.

"Or maybe not" Edward said in a stern voice. He and Naruto traded glances, confirming that they had the same notion as to who or what is responsible for the reckless and relatively ruthless slaughter.

"He nearly made us believe he's human" Jasper supplemented. Revealing that he too shared the same suspicion.

"What do you mean?" Carlisle inquired. He along with Esme, Alice, Rosalie and Emmett were all bewildered.

"Well, there is this pompous brat. I think it's time for us to confront him." Naruto responded with a clenched fist and a deathly expression on his face.

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The next day was a Saturday. Bella woke up a bit late than she usually does, the rain from the previous night has ceased and left a myriad of poodles that reflected the opaque cloud forms drifting above.

"Dad where's the truck?" Bella inquired after noticing that her truck wasn't in its usual spot.

"Ah yeah, I forgot to tell you. I noticed that the engine is making this odd noise so I had Jacob pick it up yesterday for repairs."

"Oh I see" Bella mumbled

"Are you going somewhere today Bells?"

"Yes actually. I'm going to a friend's house to do our biology project."

"Which friend?" Charlie inquired

"Alex…Alex Storm. He's new here, just moved in a couple of months ago." Bella hesitantly answered.

"The eccentric rich kid?" Charlie once again queried.

"Yes….you know him?"

"Not personally, though I know where he lives, his house is at the edge of town. I can give you a ride there."

"That would be great Dad"

Isn't that he the same boy you accidentally kneed in the…." Charlie said, suppressing a chuckle.

"Yes" Bella replied uncomfortably in a sarcastic tone.

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On their way, Charlie suddenly remembered something as the cruiser was about to pass Newton's Olympic Outfitters. Lately there were strange rumors circulating around town of a giant bear that has been spotted by a few passing hikers and the said establishment is where it was first heard of. He suspected that the said animal maybe responsible for Waylon's death. So he opted to confirm it.

"Bella, do you mind if we pull over for a while, I have some errands to run. It won't take much time." Charlie said in a voice that was rather contemplative.

"Sure dad" Bella replied.

Charlie pulled over and parked just adjacent to the shop. For some reasons she couldn't comprehend, Bella was compelled by what seemed to be an invisible force to walk towards the establishment and go inside.

As she entered Mr. Newton genially greeted her and Charlie. She then saw Mike behind the cashier's counter, having great difficulty trying to hang something on the wall.

"Oh. Hey Bella" Mike greeted him jovially. _"I can't believe my luck today."_ He thought happy as a clam.

"Mike" Bella greeted back. "What are you doing there anyway" She then inquired.

"Just hanging this digitally enhanced picture of my great grandfather and his crewmates. My dad thinks it looks classy." Mike explained smirking.

"Have a little family pride son. You're great-grandfather is one of the first people who reached the Antarctic during his time. And besides, it does look classy." Mr. Newton, who apparently heard his son's wryly comment, momentarily severed his conversation with Charlie for a riposte.

Bella pressed her lip in to a line, suppressing a giggle then converting it in to a vague smile.

"So yeah, my great-grandpa was the doctor at this steam ship called the Isabel." Mike explained in a hush and much more respectful voice. "Hey, you want to see something weird?" He then continued.

"I don't know" Bella replied, she already met her weirdness quota the other night.

"Look at the person at the top left of the photo, the one that looks like he's wearing a weird jumpsuit thing." Mike said, enthusiastically.

Bella did so and was astounded from what she saw. "Is that…" She muttered but can't finish her sentence for it seems too surreal for credibility.

"Looks exactly like Naruto right? I don't know that jumpsuits were a hit back then" Mike finished it, chuckling as he cracked from his own joke.

"When was this picture taken?" Bella inquired, quite intrigued.

"About 1855 or 1856…Im not exactly sure" Mike ponderingly answered.

Out of sudden phantasmagoric visions flashed before Bella's eyes. She then recalled the dream about the great tree and the visions it furnished her, becoming increasingly lucid and overwhelmingly vivid the longer she looked at the photo.

"Are you alright Bella?" Mike inquired, worried.

"Yeah. I'm good" Bella replied holding her head, momentarily dazed and unable to think properly from the uncanny experience.

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The entire interim of the drive passed ephemerally like an insignificant spark for Bella was deep in her contemplation, quite absorbed from the perturbing visions. She suddenly heard Charlie's voice saying something, rousing her back to her senses.

"Bells we're here." Charlie said pointing at the luxurious mansion wrought of chalk-white marble. The colossal edifice was larger than most malls they've ever saw and it towered lordly over the trees in the vicinity. On its huge façade stood multi-columned porticoes of the same chalk-white marble and a great iron wood portals superbly etched and gilded in rococo designs. Charlie ringed the bell and an elderly man dressed in a business suit came out to receive them.

"Chief Swan, Ms. Bella please do come in" He said warmly "My name is Sebastian, the head butler of this household" he then introduced himself as he guided them in.

The interior of the lofty edifice was even grander, oozing with luxury and splendor. Elegant imperial chandeliers fashioned from the finest Italian crystals hung on the delicately frescoed and gilded ceiling. Overlooking the glossy floor of polished marble that was intricately mosaicked with semi-precious stones in classical byzantine and roman inspired designs; and an arcade of malachite wrought columns, standing by the pair, with their capitals crowned with golden acanthus leaves. Their base, along with the relief-etched frieze and even the modillion where all gilded as well.

Suits of medieval armor stood proud in the hallways and corridors, wielding swords, pollaxes or mace like silent sentinels; while opulent rococo furnishings and remarkable works of art such as great urns of lapis lazuli, carved ivory tusks, magnificent sculptures and priceless paintings adorned the aesthetically stunning palatial residence of the Storms.

A fairly sizable sculpture of a perching firebird caught Charlie's attention, it was wrought of solid gold, and its crest and tail feathers were accented by delicately embedded flawless-gemstones. While Bella was intrigued by a strange painting, depicting four men; all of whom have death white pale skin and inhuman beauty as a common attribute. The first three were sitting on throne-like royal chairs while the last was standing just behind the third. They all have piercing burgundy-red eyes, save for the last which possess an amber-gold shade. Upon closer inspection, Bella saw that the divergent character bears a shockingly uncanny resemblance to a familiar character - Carlisle Cullen.

"Miss Swan. This way please." Sebastian said, ushering her before she could make any further scrutiny of the peculiar painting.

"Quite some house you got here." Charlie commented, impressed.

"The late Lord and Lady Storm were ardent connoisseurs of art. Their impeccable aesthetic acuity was their common denominator, if I may say so." Sebastian replied.

" _Well that explains the fine taste in home decorations."_ Charlie thought "Im sorry did you say late…" He then continued reluctantly but was even more hesitant to finish the sentence. Bella on the other hand felt a bit sheepish and rueful for she forgot to tell Charlie about Alex's parents and how any topic concerning them deeply saddens him.

"Yes. I'm afraid they have passed away sir." The elderly butler said in a somber voice. "They're death has devastated Master Alexander profoundly."

"I'm sorry…I didn't know" Charlie responded in a low and solemn voice. "But if you don't mind me asking. What do they do for a living….when, you know…they're still alive?" He then cautiously asked out of curiosity.

"Dad!" Bella said in a low hissing voice, in protest to the nosy inquiry.

"Certainly, Lord Gabriel Storm, the master's father was a successful banker, and his mother, the Lady Ellara d'Sanguius-Storm was the current head of the noble house of Sanguinus, which is one of Europe's leading weapons manufacturers since the Medieval Ages. Though after the Second World War, the family conglomerate decided to expand their corporate portfolio from military technologies and armament production to other industries such as power generation, naval engineering and construction, aerospace technology, pharmaceuticals, telecommunication, software design and development, shipping, and financial services; they also have significant investments on a number of tech-firms throughout the globe, own oil drilling platforms and refineries in the Middle-East and Southeast-Asia, and operates a recently acquired satellite control and launch facility in Kazakhstan." The elderly butler responded, explaining every detail like an orator as they walked in the halls and corridors of the mansion.

Sebastian then opened a hinged patio leading to an indoor garden. Bella entered first and saw the luxuriant botanical underbrush flourishing on the temperature controlled structure. There were pygmy date palms yielding sumptuous amounts of produce, lush pomegranate trees with beautiful fire colored blooms and large crimson fruits, a myriad of exotic and ornamental flora such as pink blossom trees and other plants with brightly colored flowers such as orchids, lilies, roses and peonies.

An indoor waterfall cascaded and flowed in to a series of papyrus and lotus accented manmade ponds that were the sanctuary of multitudinously hued Koi fishes and exotic turtles. On the largest pond, at the center of two adjoining bridges, stood a water gazebo where Alex was. He didn't seem to notice them come in and appeared to be frantically busy expending inordinate amount of efforts setting up the 'study area'. He appeared preoccupied checking the minutest of details, making sure everything is perfect.

"Excuse me sir, Miss Swan is here." Sebastian announced.

"Hey Bella, I hope you don't mind doing our project he.…oh hello there Chief Swan" Alex jovially said, happy as a clam but was startled to see Charlie with her.

"Hey" Bella awkwardly greeted back with a furrowed eye brows.

Charlie nodded with a straight face in greeting but was laughing at the back of his head. "Well, I'll be going now. Pick you up at five Bells." He then said to Bella, suppressing a chuckle, before he left.

"So…uhm…yeah, I already made the report regarding DNA replication of diploid germ cells, I just need…" Alex said, enthusiastically but was cut-off.

"Alex?" Bella said with an incredulous look on her face.

"Yeah?"

"What's all this about?"

"Oh that would be the DNA structural model were going to use, it's not finished though…so..uhmm, perhaps we could finish it together?" Alex said in a sheepish but hopeful voice.

"That's not what I meant. I thought we're going to do our biology project, I didn't agree to a date." Bella said, raising a brow.

"Whaaaaaat….no..no….I didn't..uhm. You see…I just thought you…would prefer here cause, you know…you're from Arizona…and uhm, a familiar scenery would be nice." Alex incoherently mumbled. Stuttering as he tried to fabricate a reasonable premise but was obviously transparent.

"And that?" Bella said; pointing at a nearby coffee table filled with plates of different kinds of hors d'oeuvres.

"Snacks…in case we get hungry" Alex replied, discomfited.

"Let's just do it ok?" Bella smirked at the young man's staggered reaction.

"Do what?" Alex said awkwardly in a flustered but somewhat slightly hopeful voice. His eyes widened and his cheeks slightly blushed.

"The project?" Bella sighed and replied in a deadpan tone.

"Oh, ok" Alex said in a sheepish voice while the blushing on his face gradually became more intense.

Hours passed and the uncomfortable barrier between the two gradually dissolved by the labor intensive technicalities of their biology project. Bella Suddenly remembered the peculiar painting she saw earlier and decided to ask Alex about it.

"Uhm...Hey can I ask you a question?" Bella said in a somewhat quiet but serious voice.

"Yeah" Alex replied, closing his laptop to focus on her.

"There is this painting I saw a while ago while we're on our way here. I'm just wondering about it."

"Which one?"

"It's the one depicting four men; two of them have long black hair while the other two were blonde. They were sitting in what looked like thrones, except for the last one who was standing behind the other blonde." Bella said, trying to remember as much detail of the painting as she could.

"The Volturi" Alex extrapolated.

"I'm sorry, what?" Bella inquired with a bemused expression on her face.

"The painting it called The Volturi" Alex explained in a gentle voice. "You know, there's an interesting story behind that piece of work." He then continued.

"Can you please tell me?" Bella pleaded.

"Ok…it was painted by a relatively obscured Italian artist named Vincenzo Lazzeri in the early 19th century, and believed to be the last of his work for he disappeared a few days later after he completed it."

"What happened to him?" Bella wondered

"Nobody knows. People thought that he was a little crazy; always spouting about things that go bump in the night and stuff. Another strange thing is that, decades later, a man who bears an uncanny resemblance to him suddenly appeared in the outskirts of Lyon. The peculiarly pale stranger declared himself to be the long lost artist and painted a number of incredible works of art in the same style Lazzeri utilized to substantiate his assertion. He also claimed that he was turned in to a monster by one of the men in the painting and detested his damned existence ever since. It didn't take long and he too disappeared, never to be seen again." Alex explained in a calm and resonant voice but was singularly penetrating.

"A monster….what kind of monster?" Bella inquired, her curiosity has now become a great conflagration that pushed her to dig deeper, to learn as much as she could.

"Try some canapés their really good…or maybe some mini beef-wellingtons, smoked salmon crostini, or perhaps some caviar? I'll have Sebastian fetch us some beluga caviar, you'll love it." Alex said in a pleasant and jovial voice, offering Bella something to eat from the assortments of gourmet delicacies, served on the numerous silver platters atop the nearby coffee table.

"No thanks" Bella said with a vague smile.

"Are you sure? They're really good" Alex said in a silly and childlike manner, persuading her to try some.

"Okay" Bella relented, amused on how puerile Alex can be. She tried some seared foie gras pate. Its rich, buttery and delicate taste melted on her tongue, and it was divine. "It's really good." She complimented.

"Told yah" Alex amiably said in a silly voice. His eyes were sparkling and an innocent broad smile played on the edges of his lip.

"Hey about my question earlier?" Bella suddenly remembered her prior inquiry, before her senses were clouded by the captious thralldom of the extraordinarily appetizing finger food.

"Oh where are my manners…let me get you some ice tea" Alex said in a tremulous voice that instantly became less coherent as he noticed Bella giving him a dubious stare. "Pomegranate juice perhaps?" He then continued, uncomfortably and with an nervous smile.

"No. Thank you. But you can answer my question" Bella said in a serious tone, crossing her arms. She noticed that Alex was deliberately eluding the topic for some reason and opted to give him a stern and piercing look in order to compel the latter to furnish her with the information she requires.

"Those are unnecessary details anyway Bella" Alex dissuaded her.

"I want to hear it, nonetheless" Bella persisted. Alex's discouragement only fueled her curiosity.

"Very well" Alex sighed in concede. He, however, hesitated more than a few times and was reticent for a lengthy interim before answering her question, and when he finally did, he answered quite cautiously; choosing his words carefully as he spoke. "They are called by many names but troubled souls are what they really are. They are the walking dead Bella. As per folklore, it is said that these undead beings subsist their ghastly form of immortal existence by draining and consuming the life essences of the living."

"Life essences?" Bella inquired in a low voice. She already knew the answer to her own question but asked nonetheless.

"Blood in particular" Alex replied in a somewhat blasé voice, like he has seen these creatures firsthand and witnessed their activities himself but was completely indifferent to it.

Bella turned taciturn for she was completely absorbed and in deep contemplation. "Vampires?" She involuntarily queried in a hushed voice, though the answer was intuitively obvious.

"As a matter of definition, yes….but of course it's just a bunch of silly superstitions." Alex said in a comforting voice and with a reassuring smile.

"Tell me more." Bella said, curiously.

"I'm afraid it's all I know." Alex replied sheepishly, scratching the bridge of his nose.

" _There is something he's not telling me."_ She thought but the young man's silvery voice and relatively goofy personality has somewhat sponged away the feeling of suspicion and anxiety, superseding them with an unclouded equanimity that she found particularly pleasant.

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(Bella's House)

Bella was in her room, sitting on her bed and was haunted by the strange things that occurred that day. The eldritch visions on her dream, the strange boy in the century old photo, the uncanny painting at Alex's house, along with the enigma of the latter who she felt was hiding something from her.

On her pondering, she inadvertently stumbled upon the book she bought from that bookstore at Port Angeles but never had the chance to read. She took it out from the bag and start flipping its pages. As she leaf through its contents, she saw some beautiful photos of carved, ancient masks, who was both captivating and menacing.

Then a particular picture caught her attention. It was a photo of bone-white mask with pitch black eyes and rows of needle like sharp teeth. The inscription bellow it says: 'The Cold One: Apotamkin'

Bella quickly went in to her desk and turned on her old computer. She hated using the internet there, her modem was sadly outdated and her free service was substandard that just dialing up took a toll on her patience. To make matters worse, her screen was filled with pop up ads the next moment she looked. She closed them all down and eventually found a promising sight.

It has simple white background and black text, quite academic looking, and with two quotes greeting her at the homepage:

' _Throughout the whole vast shadowy world of ghosts and demons there is no figure so terrible, no figure so dreaded and abhorred, yet dight with such fearful fascination, as the vampire, who is himself neither ghost nor demon, but yet who partakes the dark natures and possesses the mysterious and terrible qualities of both. –Reverend Montague Summers'_

' _If there is in this world a well-attested account, it is that of vampires. Nothing is lacking: official reports, affidavits of well-known people, of surgeons, of priests, of magistrates; the judicial proof is most complete. And with all that, who is there who believes in vampires?'_

The rest of the sight was an alphabetized listing of all the different myths of vampires held throughout the world. She read carefully throughout the descriptions and saw the link on Apotamkin. She clicked it and several pictures began loading; Tapestries, engravings and paintings - all of which depicting the cold skinned Apotamkin devouring his victims.

It caught Bella's interest and she continued to click the links and read its content. The several words leap out in succession **'speed, strength, cold skin'** ; traits that Edward possesses, she speculated. Then she saw two other words that dumbstruck her; **'immortal' and finally 'blood drinker'**

Suddenly the picture and the painting of the persons with uncanny resemblance to Naruto and Dr. Cullen flashed before her eyes, along with the chilling sensation of when she first touched Edward's cold skin. She also recalled the particular thing Alex mentioned to him earlier _; "…_ _undead beings subsist their ghastly form of immortal existence by draining and consuming the life essences of the living"_

"It's…not…possible" She murmured to herself. Reeling back in to the computer in utter disbelief as the eerie pieces of the puzzle finally fell in to place rendering a spine-chilling conclusion.

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(Storm Residence – Library)

Alex was at the library, reading a rather large volume that was bound in slate covers of leather and copper that was etched with uncanny seals and runes, and with verdigris eaten clasps. As he enjoyed reading the strange tome a pair of predator like eyes watched surreptitiously behind the shadows.

"You might as well come out now" Alex said without gazing away from the pages of the volume.

"Troubled soul? Ghastly existence? Oh I'm deeply hurt." A velvety voice answered in a somewhat coquettish tone as he revealed himself. He was a tall man, standing at about six feet in height, and was inhumanly beautiful. He has blond hair that is not quite shoulder length, and that is rather curly, which sometimes, curiously appears white under fluorescent lighting. His eyes are gray, but they absorb the colors of blue or violet easily from surfaces around them. He has a short narrow nose, and a mouth that is well shaped, but has always been slightly large for his face. His mouth can look very mean or extremely generous, but always sensual. His face was constantly animated and beautiful, with skin that is deathly white and highly reflective, and glazed fingernails which gives the impression that their made of glass

"Well, that's what you get for eavesdropping Lestat" Alex said, smiling. He then closed the book, placing it back on the shelf.

"C'est la vie" Lestat replied, accompanied by a penetrating laugh.

"So very kind of you to pay me a visit" Alex greeted him in a manner like an old friend that he hasn't seen for a long time.

"It is always a pleasure to see you my lord" He then formally greeted Alex back, genuflecting with a vampiric grin on his face.

"There's no need for such unnecessary formalities my friend" Alex chuckled.

"Would you rather prefer if I address you by your real name?" Lestat said, teasing Alex with a crooked smile on his face.

"Alex will be fine" He casually replied.

"I must say, I find it surprising to know that a greater being of immense power is a little shy around girls…and so puerile, and ticklish…I like it" Lestat continued teasing as he gracefully glided ever so closer.

"I'm not perfect you know" Alex shrugged

"Just nigh-omnipotent?" Lestat said with a sensual but leery smile on his face.

"I trust that the power I vouchsafed served you well?" Alex inquired rhetorically, diverging from the topic.

"Yes. Better than sex as a matter of fact. Which reminds me…you know my offer still stands." Lestat said as he sensually ran his fore finger around Alex's chest.

"Offer? The way I see it, it's more like a wishful request" Alex chuckled.

"Hmm…admittedly I'm the one who's going to enjoy it the most but it would be a mutually beneficial deal." Lestat whispered softly, while his hand gently brushed the young man's face going down to his shoulder.

"And how is that?" Alex inquired in an ambiguous tone while giving the vampire an incredulous gaze.

"Well once you have been immersed in the art of making love then perhaps you wouldn't act like such a goof around your precious Bella." Lestat, who is now behind Alex, coquettishly posited while playfully nibbling on the young man's earlobes, making the latter's brow furrow.

"How generous of you but the short answer is no" Alex said sarcastically with a deadpan expression. "Dude. Seriously, stop that. You're making things weird"

"You won't regret it…I promise" Lestat persuaded sensually while lifting Alex's shirt just enough to expose the lower portion of his washboard abs and commencing to unbutton his trousers.

"Enough with these trivialities" Alex said in a calm but penetrating voice.

Lestat then suddenly found himself standing miles away from his previous position and in front of the Cullen's house which was a sizable and modern structure, located fairly deep in the forest.

"What just happened? Where am I?" Lestat mumbled, confounded by the strange nature of his transition.

"Somewhere interesting" Alex said in an eerie echoing voice, as he materialized himself from the shadows.

"We were in your library just moments ago. How did I get here?" Lestat queried with a cloud of bewilderment in his face.

"Distance is but an illusion amidst the dappled shadows of time and space." Alex replied, amused by the staggered expression on the vampires face.

"Hmm...I didn't caught any of that but an interesting trick, I must admit." Lestat said, regaining much of his confidence and composure. _"I wonder how he learned it."_ He then thought to himself.

"I didn't learn it at all. It comes naturally to me…like other curious things." Alex replied, flashing a boyish smile.

"I should have known better and expect such cryptic answers from you." Lestat shrugged nonchalantly.

Alex just laughed, he then scooped a handful of soil from the ground with his open palm, molded it in to what looked like a fat worm with hollow eye sockets and a gaping maw.

"What is that?" Lestat inquired with an appalled facial expression and in a voice laced with disgust as he beheld the aesthetically abhorrent sculpture.

"It doesn't have a name yet." Alex retorted. A demonic grin then emanated from his face that foreboded and strangely aroused his companion. "Ah, yes….your name shall be Rlim Shaikorth"

"The people inhabiting this house are vampires." Lestat commented.

"Apparently, save for one. He is…different" Alex answered, he then turned his gaze to Lestat. "Are you afraid?" He teased the vampire but before the latter could utter any protest he once again spoke. "Don't be for we are absolutely imperceptible to the most of them. And though Naruto could subtly sense our presence he does not possess the power to even slightly harm an outer-god…and by extension nor can he harm you."

"Now what?" Lestat inquired in a somewhat exasperated and jaded tone.

"Now we'll give it life" Alex said in a voice that was like the soft luminescence of distant stars translated in to sound. The sculpture then floated away from his hand and was engulfed in an aura of fiery white energy and blinding iridescent light as it began to be animated and grew in to colossal size, with its body coiling around the Cullen's house.

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(Cullen's House)

It was a fairly quiet night and nothing seems to be out of the ordinary. Edward was in his room listening to some Debussy while the rest of the coven was watching Naruto and Jasper play chess downstairs.

Naruto's expression suddenly turned grave. "Someone's watching us" he said in a stern tone.

"No one is around, you're just being paranoid" Rosalie scoffed.

Carlisle was baffled, he too couldn't sense anyone either but he however knew that the shinobi has a much more acute and superior senses compared to the rest of them.

Suddenly the temperature lowered and a great coldness predominated. The strange cold was eldritch and preternatural in nature for even the vampires where affected by it. They began to weaken; their hands and ears ached as if their bones were being frozen solid as the utter chill smote sharply through their skin

"What's happening?" Jasper barely muttered with his numbing lips.

Soon they noticed a light shining beyond their window, it was pale and frigid as fire of ice, as if a belated moon has now risen above the forest. Though they knew the moon was at that time a thin crescent, declining with the eventide.

Naruto was then engulfed with a golden shroud of bright and warm Chakra that expanded like a shockwave, melting away the cold that sadistically tormented the rest of his family.

"Whoever did this better run!" He exclaimed as rippled patterns emerged from his now purple and faintly glowing eyes, and a swirling **rasengan** formed in his right hand.

 **End**

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 **NA: Hey there folks!**

 **I apologize for the time it took me to publish this chapter. My cousin has suggested that introducing another vampire from other literary works would leaven things up and make the story more interesting. Unfortunately I have to scrape my previous work and start over from scratch to do that.**

 **Anyways, in this chapter the C'thulhu mythos element of the story becomes more profound, making it a little bit dark. Lestat from The Vampire Chronicles also made a cameo. Just to clear things up this was Lestat from the novels which is bisexual (again my cousin's idea). I'm still stumped if I would give him a bigger role on the upcoming chapters as it can make things a more convoluting than it already is.**

 **Oh and yeah, there will be a lot of fight scenes and some Leah/Naruto moments on the next chapter.**

 **I hope you enjoyed reading. Please let me know what you think and I always welcome any comments and suggestions from you awesome people to improve the story.**

 **Cheerio :)**


	7. Chapter 7: Beyond Duality

(Cullen's House)

As the invading chill was dispelled by Naruto's golden shroud of chakra so did returned the sensation and strength of the rest of the Cullen's. Rippled patterns then appeared from his faintly glowing purple eyes and a fast-spinning ball of compressed chakra emanated from his right hand.

"Whoever did this better run!" He exclaimed with great rage. It is one thing to attack him but to blatantly harm his family is a thing he couldn't tolerate nor forgive.

The beam of pale eerie light continued to radiate from the windows and glass walls, flowing in a stream, intensifying and ebbing away rhythmically like flickering frozen flames.

"The Volturi….they have come for us" Rosalie gaspingly speculated.

"My visions…they are all clouded" Alice nervously pondered while holding Jasper's hand.

"Stay together. I'll check outside" Naruto said sternly before he **Hiraishin** himself out of the house. The sight of his blazing **Rinnengan** has taken the Cullen's aback for its power was more than enough to intimidate those who gaze upon them.

What happened next however was beyond the shinobi's imagining. One of his flying thunder god formula was strategically placed atop of a towering tree, overlooking their house. As Naruto materialized he saw a colossal creature coiled around the house, its nature was so grotesque that the ineffably foul monstrosity seemed to be only held in the hazy memories and surreal nightmares of the insane.

His pulse stilled from terror as he made further scrutiny of the loathsome creature. In the entire world there is nothing that could be equated to its foulness. It looked like a titanic fat white worm; its coiled tail was thick as the middle fold of its body and its front reared upward in a form of a white round disk. Upon it were imprinted vaguely the lineaments of a visage belonging neither to beast of the earth nor ocean-creature. And amid the visage a mouth curved uncleanly from side to side of the disk, opening and shutting incessantly on a pale and tongueless and toothless maw.

Its eye sockets were close together between its shallow nostrils; and the sockets were eyeless, but in them appeared from moment to moment globules of a blood-colored matter having the form of eyeballs; and ever the globules broke and dripped down, falling with a splash as of heavy tears.

"What the hell is that?" Naruto muttered, indisposed. He was inured more than anyone to handle such situations involving demonic beasts but the ineffably abhorrent creature has slightly taken him aback. Nonetheless his courage didn't falter nor did it stifle the wisdom Hagoromo imparted.

Imperceptibly phased amidst the lacunae of the main reality and supermundane dimensions the vampire Lestat and the outer-god known only as Alex watched intently as the shinobi prepared to combat the repugnant monstrosity.

"Beautiful is he not?" Alex eagerly exclaimed with a wide demonic smile on his face, in reference to the abomination he created.

"Obviously not" Lestat snappily retorted with a grimace on his face.

"Well, figuratively speaking at least" Alex said sheepishly, immaturely pouting as he crossed his arms like a child who have been criticized.

Naruto calculatingly eyed the beast, reckoning the best recourse to engage and exterminate it. He then channeled and infused a well calibrated combination of wind and lava release chakra on the swirling **rasengan** on his palm, causing it to transcend the limits of its current state and transmute in to a higher form of the technique. Screeching blades of searing heat manifested itself from the nucleus, which by itself looked like a sizable sphere of blazing inferno.

 **Sage Art: Lava Release Rasenshuriken!** Naruto exclaimed as he leaped out from the tree and hurled the scorching vortex in to the white worm, half-expecting it to be incinerated in to charred cinders and heat blackened gore. The white worm however, didn't even flinch as the infernal vortex deteriorated a few feet before it can connect; leaving a trail of steam that immediately precipitated in to wisps of powdery snow.

It would seem that Rlim Shaikorth has fortified itself with a field of biting cold, reinforced with an even more gelid aura radiating as a pale glow that snuff even the hottest of flames. Naruto was staggered as he saw how the same technique that cut the **Shinju** from the trunk was powerless against the revolting entity.

"What is this thing?" Naruto hissed, glaring at the otherworldly creature who was also peering back at him with its bleeding eyes.

"Good boy! Do that thing daddy taught you!" Alex said enthusiastically like he was encouraging a pet to do some trick.

A resonating wail which sounded akin to that of violently shattering ice emanated from the gaping maw of Rlim Shaikorth. Subsequently, glyphs of coruscating pallid light traced itself in to the night air while the frigid aura engulfing the creature intensified and pulsed.

"What's happening" Lestat inquired with a cloud of bewilderment as he witnessed Rlim Shaikorth's blasphemous susurrations. An expression of absolute abhorrence was predominant on his face for the very glance of the dark thaumaturgy is a petrifying confrontation with horror.

"He is weaving arcane energies….isn't it cute?" Alex responded with a boyish smile as if expecting some interesting, if not, a dark occurrence would soon commence. He then turned away from Lestat to coach his creation as if it was a Pokémon "Now utter the second incantation before you pronounce the necromantic rune"

Rlim Shaikorth made a bow of obeisance to the dark deity and did as he was told, culminating a reverberating chant as it recites the dark incantations of the necronomicon and the terrible arcane lore of Atlantis, of which knowledge was made available to him by his creator.

Flummoxed, Naruto somersaulted acrobatically away from the creature while unleashing a volley of explosive kunai which again proved impotent for both the explosive tags and the throwing knives themselves froze and shattered like glass.

Suddenly the Cullen's were teleported out of the house. Each of them branded on their foreheads with a strange rune from an alphabet that was alien to the shinobi. Drugged by the baleful magics of the white worm, the vampires unwillingly and implacably attacked Naruto, like somnambulists being controlled by invisible demonic strings.

"Guys snap out of it!" Naruto howled as he evades the unrelenting assault of his foster family members, taking much care not to hurt any of them.

Emmett then took a large boulder and with his vampiric strength, hurled it to the shinobi with great force. With a judicious application of a watered down **Shinra Tensei** , Naruto was easily able to deflect the projectile and launch back the members of the coven who simultaneously lunged at him.

"Alright…I hope this works" Naruto said as made a seal of confrontation and channeled chakra in to his **Rinnegan**."Dispel!" He then exclaimed, unfolding the accumulated chakra and emitting it through his eyes.

The vampires relentless attacks then grinds to a halt, slowly regaining their senses as the glimmering rune of thralldom that was cast upon them by the horrific creature lost its light and power, dissipating like smoke.

"Naruto what happened?" Carlisle inquired, hazed from the stupor of being plucked from the worm's enchantment.

However, just moments after they claimed back their lost volition, Rlim Shaikorth blasted them with a beam of pallid yet strangely dazzling light. Naruto and Edward managed to avoid being caught by the sinister radiance but the rest who unfortunately didn't was left frozen solid, shining like moon washed marble. The pupils of their open eyes had faded strangely, being indistinguishable now from the whites; and a blankness of horror was within them, like ice in deep pools that are fast frozen to the bottom.

The sight of this has both aghast and bridled the two remaining members of the coven. The intense outrage of their family's destruction gave them renewed energy and a single-minded disposition to destroy the vile creature at all cost. Edward was about to charge and attack but Naruto stopped him from doing so and warned the former about Rlim Shaikorth's protective aura that can bitterly freeze even the molecules of those who came in contact with its gelid touch.

Naruto then held out his hand and cast a full powered **Shinra Tensei** ; the immense repulsive force unleashed by the jutsu shattered the house like it was blasted by powerful shockwaves from a nuclear explosion while the towering trees were uprooted and sent hurling towards the white worm like missiles.

At its conclusion, a fanning crater etched itself on the ground; Starting from Naruto and widening to almost a mile in diameter as it progressed. Edward was stunned in astonishment for he never saw such power in his lifetime. Awestricken, he looked at Naruto with much wonderment; pondering how could his usually exuberant and wise cracking golden-haired sibling command such god like might.

Both of them however were horrifically stunned as the air becomes still and the haze cleared. As if a scene from a horrific nightmare, Rlim Shaikorth stood barely scathed. From the glimmering glyphs it conjured earlier, the white worm erected an overlapping wall of ethereal energy that subtly distorted the localized space-time around it, and absorbed and diffused the **Shinra Tensei** that would've otherwise been lethal and squished it in to a wormy pulp.

"What is that creature?" Edward loathingly said as he beheld the abhorrent monstrosity, which maw was wide agape, as if in a distasteful parody of a mocking grin.

Naruto didn't answer nor did he speak but his eyes were fixed in to a scornful glare directed at their dreadful adversary.

With a wave of its tail, the white worm then formed multiple balls of lighting that hovered around it like a flock of angry sparrows. Then at its bidding, the electrifying projectiles were dragooned whistling towards Naruto and Edward at great velocities.

Naruto was easily able to dodge the attack but Edward wasn't so fortunate for some of the ball of lightning struck him, carving a cluster of golf ball sized holes in his body.

"Na…ruto" Edward gaspingly said in a weary voice before he fell to the ground and expire.

"Edward no!" Naruto yelled, he remembered clearly the day when Sasuke died and he was powerless to prevent it. The shinobi felt an immense pain of losing friends and family once more. The pain quickly converted itself in to anger; he then turned his attention to the white worm, his now rippled eyes filled with undiluted rage and the golden shroud around his body turned crimson and flared up like wild fire. "You will pay!" He said harshly in barely controlled anger.

The vile entity responded by psionically tracing a symbol in to the air. A strange glimmering glyph materialized and the two combatants were gradually engulfed by a blinding flash of light. They then found themselves standing on a glacier.

The frozen island then rumbled, making it impossible to stand still that Naruto has to channel chakra in to his feet just to keep his balance and avoid plummeting to the shards of ice that burgeoned themselves out of the icy surface like lethal flowers of sub-arctic winter. By virtue of the worm's cunning enchantments, the glacier levitated high in to the air like a blasphemous floating fortress.

Naruto folded his hands in to the required seal and conjured a thousand shadow clones that instantly moved in to formation of threes; with each group forming **Sage Art: Lava Release Rasenshurken**. At the shinobi's lead, they all simultaneously pitched their jutsus upon the dire creature. The multitudes of gyrating-blaze, which counts by the hundreds, were more than ample to breach and inexorably overwhelm the frigid defenses of Rlim Shaikorth, incinerating the dire annelid in to char and slag, and turn its floating frozen citadel in to steaming slush.

It would seem that Naruto's victory against his foul adversary is secured, with only a well-placed divine intervention could possibly hope to save the white worm from certain destruction. Unfortunately however a spectating dark god is on the side of the abominable creature, and intercede he did.

"A thousand against one? Hardly a fair match." Alex hummed before a demonic smile emanated from his face. "Let us see if the hand of faith will restore balance in the equilibrium." And just like that, the fiery vortexes of destruction contorted and distorted, fading away inches before they can hit their mark, as if utterly erased from existence.

"What just happened?" Each of Naruto's shadow clones asked the other but just got confused shrugs in reply.

Alex then extended his forefinger and from its tip coldly unleashed an avalanche of monochromatic living lightning that penetrated the barriers between dimensions and breached in to the main reality where Naruto and his clones were. The raging torrent of undiluted destruction autonomously snuffed the shadow clones with murderous ease, becoming more intense and furious with every fresh arc as the eldritch fulmination leaped from clone to clone, branching out as each target burst in to a puff of smoke until only the original remained.

Depleted of both chakra and hope, Naruto's golden shroud dissolved and extinguished. He then held out a kunai as he saw Rlim Shaikorth swiftly slithering towards his direction. It was too late however as the white worm, with its gaping maw, swallowed the shinobi whole. Lestat flinched for such an end is too gruesome to witness that he could never wish it even upon the worst of his enemies.

"Behold the fate of all heroes." Alex said indifferently, with a boyish smile on his handsome face that was actually a poorly guised demonic grin. Though was appealing in a supernal degree nonetheless, and Lestat was momentarily dazed from his loathing as his thought and senses were gradually subjugated by the young man's imperious charms. "Don't worry he's not dead. Rlim Shaikorth's midriff is a one way portal to a pocket dimension where I condemned the old man. There they can preach their delusions for all eternity. Funny, sparing his life ten thousand years ago for this very moment is almost worth the wait, but then again, what is time to an immortal?" He then said before letting out maniacal and blood curdling laugh.

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(Naruto's Subconscious Mind)

Naruto found himself flat on his back, the environment was pitch-black, only drops of water can be heard, and the sensation of invisible currents drifting through his body is the only thing he could feel. It was almost peaceful, a rare commodity for a shinobi.

"Is this it…Is this my death?" Naruto muttered in a hollow voice. "What a crappy way to die" he then smirked with a gentle smile for he no longer feared it. The memory of Leah Clearwater then flashed before his eyes then dissolved just as fast. If there's one thing he regrets it was not taking the chance to know her more.

"I wonder" Naruto smilingly wondered what life would be like if things were a little different; he imagined himself with his friends back in the hidden leaf village, becoming the hokage and being with Hinata, having kids, and growing old.

He suddenly remembered the Cullen's. The first time he met Carlisle, Edward, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice and Jasper. He then remembered the good times they had as a family and how they were ruthlessly extinguished by the white worm, along with the pain that came along with their destruction. "I'm so sorry guys….I failed." He said somberly in despondence as darkness began to clutch him in its stygian embrace.

"Hey kid!" He suddenly heard a familiar gruff and piercing voice.

"That voice….Kurama?" Dumbfounded, Naruto barely muttered.

"Yeah it's me. All your whining woke me up from my nap" The Kyuubi replied in a guttural voice as he revealed himself to the shinobi.

Out of the impenetrable darkness, a familiar menacing smile and a pair of red blood eyes materialized. Naruto stood up and saw the gigantic fox staring at him. Both of them glad to see each other once more.

"It's so nice to see you again old friend. Are you gon'na take me to heaven now? Naruto pondered, gently gazing at the Kyuubi.

"You idiot! Do I look like an angel to you?" Kurama annoyingly exclaimed in a harsh voice that made Naruto comically cringe from the shock of being berated by the nine tailed fox.

"No, not really" Naruto replied sheepishly with a rather comical expression on his face.

"Snap out of it! You're not yet dead boy." Kurama then said in an exasperated tone.

"I thought you were lost when you and the other tailed beasts were sealed in to the Statue of Gedo."

"So am I kid. But for reason I couldn't really understand, it would seem that I'm now the Jubi's predominant consciousness."

"Ya' know, I've been trying to harness the Jubi's chakra but I could only access a small portion of it. Funny isn't it? I've been trying to do that for more than a century now.

"A century?" Kurama's eyes snapped "What are you talking about Naruto?"

"Yeah it's a long story….we're in the far future…everyone I know is dead."

"That can't be possible!"

"It's too late Kurama" Naruto said, somberly lowering his gaze as hopelessness began to overtake him again.

"Who are you kid?" Kurama asked sternly while glaring at Naruto.

"What kind of question is that?" Naruto replied, confounded.

"I said who are you?" The fox exclaimed with a deafening roar "The Naruto I know would never give up as easily as that. He may be a loud mouth dope but a damn though one! Now I'm gon'na ask you one more time and you better give me a damn right answer! Who are you?" He then continued in a penetrating roar that brought back a new spark of hope, empowering the shinobi.

Naruto closed his eyes for a while and a golden cloak of chakra enveloped his body "I'm Uzumaki Naruto. Shinobi of the hidden leaf. And I won't die like this, not today!" he then said opening his eyes again and revealing orange irides and slitted pupils that was merged with six path sage mode eye patterns, creating a design reminiscent of a cross.

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"I think I'm going to get some Popeye's chicken. Victory always makes me hungry" Alex said with his hands nonchalantly clasped behind his head.

"Such a waste" Lestat muttered lugubriously. Having been impressed by Naruto and how he valiantly battled the foul creation of his enigmatic benefactor.

"Well, that's unfortunate isn't it? I suppose our blonde friend is just prone to misfortune." Alex chuckled smugly. His gaiety demeanor however was soon replaced by a grave and dark expression. "What….Impossible!" he exclaimed, astonished.

Suddenly a thin stream of light made by combing storm release and nature energy pierced itself from the inside of the white worm and punched out near its clitellum. The creature bellows in pain as black blood gushed from its wound and the shinobi emerged out from the rift.

'"That was nasty!" Naruto comically said as he made his way out. His cloak of golden chakra formed into a light-colored coat with a dark-colored 'bodysuit' underneath that covers his torso, reaching down his arms to the knuckles, and down his legs, stopping just above his shoes, which also changed color. He also had a light-colored circle where his seal was placed, as well as golden magatama markings around his collar. The coat has the typical markings of the **Six Paths Senjutsu** : a **Rinnegan** above nine magatama, on its back. Also truth seeking balls of malleable black chakra formed and floated behind the shinobi.

It was a magnificent sight that Lestat was instantly turned on, Rlim Shaikorth was stupefied like a dumb animal and Alex's eyes glowed radiantly azure from the confounding outrage.

"It's payback time ugly!" Naruto exclaimed with a grin on his face as he cracked his knuckles. It would seem that his new six path sage mode cloak is completely impervious to Rlim Shaikorth's frigid defenses for he formed a chakra claw out of the said cloak and used it to grab then violently slam the vile creature in to the frozen surface of the glacier then toss it in to the highest peak of the ice mountain.

Rlim Shaikorth's fat wormy body made a cold explosion as it impacted and broke the frozen aiguille. However, it only sustained non-fatal damage due to the ethereal wall it conjured. It then began to wail again in a rasping susurration.

Surprisingly, now that Naruto has full access to the Jubi's power; he can now, somehow, vaguely understand the worm's rustling murmurs which just a while ago were cryptically alien and utterly incomprehensible.

"…Lord of the red gate, Remember!

Beast with a thousand maws, Remember!

Moon with a thousand faces, Remember!

Feaster of a thousand stars, Remember!

Glory to the outer-gods, lords of eternity, keepers of balance, and masters of all creation and destruction!

Thy humble servant earnestly supplicates thy succor. Direct thine unending wrath and annihilation to the heretic who challenged thine infinite power …."

In frantic the white worm uttered a spell of destruction. Glyphs once again traced itself in to the night air and swirled around Rlim Shaikorth forming a luminous circle of power. After which, innumerable speeding asteroids were then pulled down from space and were accelerated at incredibly high velocities towards Naruto like ballistic kinetic-warheads. Upon entering the atmosphere, they burned incandescently bright but still retained much of their substance and were potently destructive. Ranging from the size of a small car to that of a big house, the falling space rocks smote the night sky with trails of fiery rain.

With his golden chakra cloak, Naruto formed an immense battle avatar that resembled a full bodied Kurama with six arms. He then shaped a large **Wind Release: Ultra-Big Ball Rasenshuriken** on one set of his arms, then coalesce his truth seeking balls in to a single orb and formed a **Tailed Beast Ball Rasenshuriken** on the other.

With impeccable timing and precision, Naruto hurled his jutsu high in to the sky. The two dilating vortexes inevitably collided as they expand; creating a massive explosion accompanied by a blinding flash that was brighter than the sun and turned the dark night in to an effulgent twilight. The immense wave of pure destruction pulverized the meteors in to a harmless shower of star dust and left a lustrous aurora in the sky that looked like a great arras proudly draping the great halls of Valhalla.

Naruto then disengaged his battle avatar and created a hundred clones which were also clad in six path sage mode chakra cloak. They then formed **Sage Art: Many Ultra-Big Ball Spiralling Serial Spheres** , with each clone holding a massive **Rasengan** on one hand. At Naruto's lead, he and his clones systematically slammed their jutsus on to the white worm.

Exhausted, the pale annelid didn't opt to evade the shinobi's attack. One by one as the spiraling sphere of compressed, nature-energy enhanced chakra cracked and inexorably shattered the ethereal wall protecting it.

Rlim Shaikorth muttered in a somber rustling a last soliloquy before it was vaporized. "Forgive me my lord. I have failed you."

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"You have fought bravely friend. Rest now and dream better dreams" Alex said solemnly as he saw the white worm destroyed by Naruto.

"You don't look too happy." Lestat teased but in a much more mellow tone lest he evoke the deity's wrath.

"How perceptive of you" Alex replied sarcastically

"Is it because your little pet lost?" The vampire then realized that it's safe for one or a couple more quips and decided to squeeze a bit more fun out of the situation.

"Well, that's intuitively obvious isn't it!" The young man retorted but quickly gained his composure. "There's one thing that puzzles me however"

"And what is that?" Lestat queried. It is indeed strange for his nigh-omnipotent master to get that much confounded save for when he's talking to Bella.

I have made Rlim Shaikorth as powerful as any other great old one. Eons ago, I have seen the billions of possible outcomes of this match and examined its every detail, and compensated for every deviation to make certain that Rlim Shaikorth would infallibly trounce Naruto. This outcome shouldn't have existed. I am partially coterminous with time and space but I have not seen this deviation in even the remotest of possibilities. It is like a single grain of sand that materialized itself out of nothingness and defied the entire dessert." Alex sagaciously explained in a matter-of-fact voice.

"So are you saying that you cheated a couple of times and you still lost? Well that's classic!" Lestat chuckled.

"You cheated and you lost" Alex childishly echoed in a mocking tone. "Yes, I lost. You don't have to rub it in you know. What the hell kind of minion are you anyway? Can't even lend a little emotional support for your master? He then continued with an exasperated voice that just amused Lestat.

"Not my style. If you wanted emotional support you should have opted for Dr. Phil." Lestat said nonchalantly.

"You know, there's one more thing I'm up a stump with." Alex pondered while rubbing his chin.

"And what is that?" Lestat queried apathetically. Weary of what he thought as a boring conversation.

"Why I haven't threw you in to a black hole yet." Alex said in an eerie echoing voice.

Lestat looked over his shoulder and saw his master's glaring eyes, glowing like hellish embers. He began to feel a creeping apprehension but remained calm. "Because life without me would just be more unbearable" He then said with a casual grin.

"Fair enough….Though Armand begs to differ" Alex replied with a nonchalant voice. His iridescent deep blue eyes were once again visible as the eerie glow subsides.

"So now what?" Lestat inquired, though this time in a much more reverential tone.

"Well, he bested me. That I would admit" Alex said indifferently "I suppose a reward of some sort would only be fair." He then hummed, followed by an ominous demonic grin that emanated on his face.

At that very instant, Naruto thinned away until he was akin to that of a soap-bubble, except that he kept his shape.

"What did you do?" Lestat staggeringly queried. He could see the ice pinnacles through Naruto as clearly as he can see things through translucent glass; and all over the shinobi played and flashed the delicate iridescent colors of a lustrous gem that has been exposed to a bright beam of lurid light before he faded utterly like dissipating smoke.

"You'll see. Oh and don't blink, you might just miss it entirely." Alex said with a boyish smile on his face and in a pleasantly piercing voice that was like the soft luminescence of distant stars translated in to sound. Then with an indolent flick of his wrist, a shroud of darkness descended and engulfed the earth, accompanied by a penetrating crackle that was like the crashing and crumbling of shattered worlds, and a black flowing of ruinous things that went past through the darkness. Then with an ethereal spark of creation; illumination came instant and complete, brighter than the fervid blaze of mid-day as reality wavered like wind-blown reflections in a pool, and time flowed backwards with the silence of a dreamless sleep. The battle decimated landscape then reverted itself in to its unspoiled state, when destruction touched it not.

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Naruto found himself in a familiar locus; he was in the living room of their house, holding a knight piece and was in the middle of making his final move for he and Jasper were playing chess while the rest of the family were spectating their match, save for Edward who was upstairs listening to Clair de Lune.

He saw the picturesque view of the Calawan River through the transparent glass wall before it was utterly ravaged by the chaos and destruction that has descended upon it during his ruinous fray with Rlim Shaikorth.

The shnobi felt an anxious sensation, along with a maelstrom of bewilderment as if he just broke free from a labyrinth of prolonged nightmare. He then heard a warm voice that alleviated him from the torment of his musing.

"Naruto. Are you alright dear?" Esme inquired maternally.

"You've been staring at that piece for fifteen minutes now. Is there something wrong? Jasper supplemented, looking a bit confounded.

Naruto lifted his head and saw his foster family, whom just hours ago was slain by the malign powers of the white worm. He made a seal of confrontation and undulated the flowing chakra on his body to dispel any kind of genjutsu or spell that might have tainted his senses. But it would seem that everything was as real as it can get.

"Was all of it just a dream?" Naruto muttered, almost inaudibly. An ineffable feeling of apprehension, joy and confusion melded in to his heart like a chaotic whirlwind for he cannot make sense of what's happening.

"You better believe it kid!" Kurama said inside Naruto's head that startled the shinobi in to displacing the chessboard and knocking the pieces in to disorder.

"Naruto what's wrong?" Carlisle inquired with ever increasing worry.

"Yeah. I just need some air." Naruto said as awkwardly as he abruptly stood up and **Hiraishined** himself leaving everyone puzzled and concerned.

"He finally snapped didn't he?" Emmett inquired, gawking.

"What are you talking about? He is always insane? Rosalie scowled.

The shinobi materialized in to the zenith of the towering tree where he placed his jutsu's formula. A feeling of an uncanny familiarity settled itself in to the core of his being as he scrutinized the undamaged and unspoiled landscape. "But how?" He pondered.

"Naruto do you remember what that disgusting thing said before it died?" Kurama said in to a ponderously analytical voice.

"What?" Naruto was caught off-guard by the question and it confused him. The shinobi's expression turned grim as memories of the battle and its conclusion flashed in his head, finally realizing what the fox was trying to imply.

"I wouldn't be surprised if one of these days it's even uglier boss came knocking at our door." The fox said in a stern tone that made both of their faces grave and serious.

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The next day was a Sunday. It goes without saying that Naruto's relatively strange behavior the other night didn't go unnoticed. Though the shinobi manage to convince the Cullen's that there's nothing to worry about. He deemed it best not to tell them anything yet unless he's absolutely sure of what happened.

Randomly, he felt like going to Port Angeles for some ramen; the steaming bowl of delight always comforts him and brings memories of his blissful days. Though instead of usually teleporting to his destination, the shinobi decided to hop on his 2007 convertible Camaro and traverse point A to point B the old fashion way, by driving. He opted so to distract him from the sanity shattering bewilderment.

On his way he felt an inexplicable feeling of wistfulness, as if a soul that was tethered to his was calling for him in a captivating croon. For reasons yet obscured to the shinobi, he stirred the car in to a different road as he drove. On a particularly remote side of the highway Naruto saw a familiar face. It was Leah Clearwater along with his cousin Emily Young. It would seem that they're car broke down on their way to Forks and the former was trying to repair it but to no avail.

Naruto decided to pullover. He saw Leah irritatingly throw a wrench in to the ground, apparently about to give up.

"Hey do you need some help?" Naruto offered.

Leah seemed genuinely alleviated but her expression suddenly became grave as she turned back and saw the shinobi. "No" She coldly exclaimed, picking up an even larger wrench and grasping it tightly; half-expecting an attack from the blonde. "Go away!" She cried in a harsh voice.

"Hey…easy…I'm just trying to help ya' know." Naruto said calmly, ensuring that he mean them no harm.

"We don't need your help" Being the natural hothead that she is, Leah retorted lividly and started to swing the wrench at the blonde.

Strangely, Naruto found her hot headedness alluring. Somehow it partially reminded him of Sakura's short temper but strangely he could see Hinata's overall likeness at the young woman.

"Oooh feisty isn't she" Kurama teased the shinobi.

"Too feisty if you ask me" Naruto replied to the fox in a deadpan tone as he avoided an angry swing from Leah.

"Leah what are you doing he's just trying to help" Emily said, trying to defuse the situation.

"Get behind me Emily. We can't trust the likes of him" Leah said sternly as she contemptuously glared at Naruto. Confused, Emily acquiesced and did what she was asked.

Naruto caught Leah's arm as the latter swung her wrench too hard and nearly fall out of balance. "Look, uhm miss….I don't want any trouble ok so I'm just gon'na leave. You don't have to go all amazon ya' know." The shinobi said but was dumbfounded to see Leah's brown eyes staring at him not out of contempt but of innocent wonderment.

"Your hand…..it's so warm." Leah muttered. However, it's not the only thing she noticed that came as a surprising shock. Staring directly at Naruto's azure eyes produced a peculiarly nostalgic spark in her deepest core. Like he knew the blonde all her life and shares this perdurable bond with him, and yet this is just only the second time they meet.

"Ekhm….you love bird's need some alone time or something?" Emily puckishly coughed with a naughty smile on her face.

Both Naruto and Leah were staring at each other's eye for a very lengthy interval now, as if they are the only people on the planet and everything else became irrelevant and insubstantial. However, as soon as both realized the awkwardness of the situation they quickly moved away from each other, slightly blushing.

"I think your car's battery is dead. Hang on I'll get the jumper cable on my car." Naruto said sheepishly and with somewhat flushed cheeks.

"Yeah…sure" Leah replied in the same awkward manner, avoiding any more eye contact with him.

Naruto then drove his car next to Leah's and went out with a pair of jumper cables. He then opened the hood and attached the cables to both terminals then connected it to the other automotive's battery. Afterwards he started his car that begun the jumpstarting process.

It took a few minutes to revive the batteries and in this interim Emily's cellphone miraculously caught service. Moved away to a quiet spot, away from the noise of the idling engine and made to call just in case the car breaks down again.

While her cousin was away and wasn't looking, Leah finally decided to confront Naruto. "You're different from them." She said, looking at the shinobi.

"So I've been told" Naruto said with a gentle smile as he removed the jumper cables from the now charged battery. He knew exactly what she meant and decided to just be casual about it.

"They say you're the most dangerous of them" Leah said with lingering trace of suspicion in her voice.

"More dangerous than you with a wrench?" Naruto quipped and chuckled lightheartedly that made Leah smile and giggle as well.

"I'm sorry about a while ago" She apologized, a little bit ashamed from her actions earlier.

"Don't worry about it Leah."Naruto responded with yet another gentle smile.

"How did you know my name?" Leah retorted, raising a brow.

"You're friend mentioned it earlier when she was trying to calm you down, remember? And you're uncle kinda announced it loudly the first time we met at that ramen house. "Naruto explained that made Leah suddenly chuckle. "Is there something I said?" he then asked, confounded by the latter's reaction.

"Actually, the uncle you're referring to is Sam, my boyfriend." Leah responded, barely able to maintain her composure from all the chuckling. She never met someone that made her laugh like that and admittedly she found it blissful and intriguing at the same time.

"Oh" Naruto said, also smiling but somehow felt saddened by the statement.

"Aren't you two enjoying yourselves" Emily said with a cheeky smile on her face.

"Just a smidge" Naruto replied "Well, I have to get going" he then continued but had great difficulty uttering every word.

"Wait!" Leah involuntarily said in an anxious voice that made Naruto turn around and Emily secretly smile. "I'm sorry…it's just I didn't get your name" she then muttered awkwardly.

"It's Naruto….Naruto Uzumaki" The shinobi said, flashing a gleaming white smile that was as entrancing as the blissful light of a thousand dawn.

 **-End**

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 **Hey there folks!**

 **Finally able to finish this chapter despite the busy schedule.**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed reading.**

 **So at this point Naruto fought and subdued Rlim Shaikorth aka the white worm who in its own right was a god-like entity created by the OC through sacrificing an infinitesimal sliver of his divine power.**

 **I was thinking of giving Naruto a minion or an ally of his own but it can get things much more complicated and convoluted. Instead I decided to bring back an old friend of his to serve the same function. In the story, Kurama was able to awaken after his consciousness was lost back when he and the other tailed beasts were absorbed within the statue of Gedo, which consequently made the latter transform back in to the Juubi and was later on sealed within Naruto.**

 **Anyways, to those who are wondering why Naruto can't access the entirety of the Juubi's chakra; it's because he hadn't yet found his inner peace and will of fire prior to when he and Kurama was reunited.**

 **Oh and you may found some unfamiliar and rather confusing terms in this chapter so I decided to list a glossary of them.**

 **Earth Bound Gods: They are the deities that formed from the left over energies during the formation of the Earth or created and sustained by the emotions and collective desires of every sentient being (especially humans) of the material plane. The Juubi belongs to this category of deity; being itself a primordial god who manifested just after the Earth formed.**

 **Great Old Ones: They are a group of unique, malignant beings of great power. They reside in various locations on Earth though not originally from it. They once presided over the planet as gods and rulers, constantly demanding bloody sacrifices from their worshippers, both for the amp in power and for the enjoyment of it. Rlim Shaikorth could be considered under this classification.**

 **Outer Gods: Are extremely powerful entities that are to the Earth Bound Gods and Great Old Ones what they are to humanity. Needless to say this makes the Outer Gods so utterly unfathomable and vast that no human could even dream of beginning to understand them, though many have tried. When they do choose to appear as human or form a human avatar, their majesty is still awe-inspiring and humbling to mere mortals (thus the preternatural good looks of the OC). Although they rule over the infinite multiverse they do so in a manner humans would consider chaotic at best and are totally uncaring of the plight of others. These deities are no more concerned for human notions of "good" and "evil" and consider humans to be less than fleas although on an infinitesimally rare chance some of them can be sympathetic to humanity on occasion but their interests are usually enigmatic. There are currently two Outer Gods residing on Earth and found humans "interesting". The first one is Nyarlathotep, the crawling chaos; and the other is the being known only as Alex, the morning star.**

 **As always any comments and suggestions to improve the story are welcome and greatly appreciated :)**

 **Cheerio :)**


	8. Chapter 8: Revelations

(Clearwater's Residence)

As the days past more and more Quileute youths are phasing in to their wolf forms. Phasing is a defense mechanism triggered when a Quileute crosses the scent of vampires and senses the tribe's need of protection. This has troubled the elders and deemed it a bad omen for if half of their fears are true, then the old enemies of their tribe, the cold ones, has once again returned and it's only a matter of time before they descend upon them with their bleeding touch.

"Leah are you alright? You haven't touched your food." Her mother, Sue, asked worriedly.

"I'm fine mom." Leah responded a she fiddled with the food on her plate.

"She's just thinking about that boy earlier." Emily said, giggling.

"Ooh is he cute? Do I know him?" Sue smilingly queried like a teen girl though her voice retained some maternal curiosity.

"Pretty damn hot. In fact he's the most gorgeous guy I've ever seen. I think he's name was Nar…" Emily said excitedly but was cut-off near the end of her sentence by Leah.

"Stop it Emily!" Leah harshly chided her then walked out.

"Leah where are you going?" Harry inquired. He and Seth just arrived from Charlie's when he saw Leah lividly stormed out of the dining room

"I'm going for some air!" Leah retorted.

"Sorry" Emily apologized in a sheepish voice for what she thought of crossing an invisible line.

"It's ok dear. It's not your fault" Sue comforted her, placing a hand on Emily's shoulder.

On a moonless and starless night, under an arching willow tree is where Leah decided to cool her fervid temper. Implacable she sat, immovable she mused; deeply pondering about the emotions she couldn't fully comprehend. The image of Naruto's azure eyes, gentle white smile and sharply handsome face only became more vivid and lucid as she futilely tried to erase him on her head.

"Hey Leah" Emily said timidly.

"Emily, what are you doing here?" Leah said in a much calmer tone.

"I'm sorry if I offended you in any way earlier."

"It's ok. I'm sorry for losing my temper."

"So…uhm...we're good?"

"Yeah. Though please don't tell anyone here about Naruto."

"Why?" Emily inquired, perplexed.

"It's complicated. It would be better if you don't know" Leah replied, staring impassively at Emily. Though deep inside she was anxious about two things; first, Naruto is with the Cullens and he is considered to be an enemy of the tribe, if anyone is to find out that she's having other emotions for the blonde other than hate, all hell will break loose. Second, she is with Sam and she loves him more than life itself.

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(Forks High School – After School)

Bella avoided Edward all day so that he would know that there's something going on in her mind, as his telepathic gift fails to read it.

Being extremely protective of Bella, this has impelled Edward to follow her. She waited at the back of the school, on the field, and as expected he showed up. Edward stood near the forest, facing Bella. It would seem that he's already aware that she has somehow deciphered his family's secret.

Bella walked towards him, passing the vampire without making any eye contact then continued towards the forest. Striding deep in to the woodland of towering lichen crested trees and lush vegetation, stopping only when she was absolutely certain that there's no longer anyone around. The dappled shadows of the dark forest, along with the eerie cold air played like a phantasmagoria in her eyes.

"You're impossibly fast and strong. Your skin is pale white and ice cold. Your eyes change color, and sometimes you speak like….like you're from a different time." Bellas broke the silence. Her voice was quivering and her fear heightened as Edward slowly approached her. "You never eat or drink anything. You don't go out in the sunlight...How old are you?" She queried, at this point Edward was just inches from her and she could feel his clothes on her back.

"Seventeen" Edward replied with a bit of nervous tremble in his voice.

"How long have you been seventeen?" Bella once again inquired.

There was an uncanny moment of silence before Edward answered. "A while" he said in a velvety voice.

His response confirmed all of Bella's suspicions. She started to pant, breathing heavily in rapid succession as she tried to assimilate what she just heard. "I know what you are" She then said, briefly able to exert some control over her nerves.

"Say it. Say it out loud." Edward demanded with a stentorian voice. "Say it!"

"Vampire" Bella mumbled loosely. The penetrating trepidation emanated as a strange pallor that mottled her cheeks.

"Are you afraid?" Edward inquired, glaring.

Bella turned around and look him straight in the eyes "No" She answered confidently.

"Then ask me the most basic question. What do we eat?" Edward said. His voice was cold and intimidating.

"You won't hurt me." Bella replied with a breathy voice as out of sudden Edward took her arms and started walking up the mountain at incredible speeds. "Where are we going?" Bella then inquired, accented by a shivering of fear.

"Up the mountain. Out of the cloud bank. You need to know what I look like in the sunlight." Edward replied as he strode with inhuman swiftness, giving Bella the sensation that they were flying.

Finally they reached their destination. It was at the apex of the mountain, where the overhanging clouds end their dominion and the moss covered vegetation was bathed with the sporadic streams of sunlight.

"This is why we don't show ourselves in sunlight. People would know that we're different." Edward said as he put Bella down, undoing his shirt then walking in to the sunshine. "This is what I am" He then continued, sparkling as if thousands of diamonds were embedded in his skin.

"It's like diamonds. You're beautiful." Bella said, completely awed. Edward's shimmering skin has dazzled her both in the literal and figurative sense.

"Beautiful?" Edward scowled "This is the skin of a killer Bella. I'm a killer." He then said, walking of the rock.

"I don't believe that!" Bella said as he followed him.

"It's because you believe a lie. A camouflage. I'm the world's most dangerous predator. Everything about me invites you in. My voice, my face, even my smell. As if I would need any of that." Edward said with increasing intensity.

"As if you could out run me!" He yelled blurring right before Bella's eyes, appearing some distance from his previous location only to blur back again and appear right next to her. "As if you could fight me off." He grabbed a large tree trunk and threw it, smashing in to a rock column with a loud crack. "I'm designed to kill" He then said in a quieter voice.

"I don't care." Bella said, calmly.

"I killed people before." Edward tried to dissuade her.

"It doesn't matter."

"I wanted to kill you. I've never wanted a human's blood so much in my life."

"I trust you."

"Don't."

"I'm here, I trust you." Bella said gently. She was about to approach Edward and touch him but the latter darted away in a blink of an eye.

"My family, we're different than others of our kind. We only hunt animals." Edward reappeared atop of a tree. He then continued to talk with a slight discomfort in his voice as if suppressing painful urge. "We've learned to control our thirst. It's you. Your scent. It's like a drug to me. Like my own personal brand of heroin."

"Why did you hate me so much when we met? Bella queried in bewilderment.

"I did. Only for making me want you so badly. I still don't know if I can control myself."

"I know you can."

"I can't read your mind. You have to tell me what you're thinking."

"Now I'm afraid."

"Good"

"I'm not afraid of you, I'm only afraid of losing you. I feel like you're going to disappear."

"You don't know how long I've waited for you. And so the lion fell in love with the lamb."

"What a stupid lamb." Bella said as he stared deeply in to Edward's golden eyes.

"What a sick, masochistic lion." Edward responded, in a sweet melodic voice staring back at hers.

They then moved to a meadow, lying idyllically on the lavender scented grass, their eyes softly locked at each other's. Suddenly the sun's rays penetrated the unyielding clouds, shining upon them, making Edward's skin sparkle softly with a gentle glimmer.

" _About three things I was absolutely positive: first, Edward was a vampire. Second, there was a part of him-and I didn't know how dominant that part might be-that thirsted for my blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him."_ Bella thought as she looked soulfully at Edward. At that moment both of them felt a connection, a spark, an unbreakable bond that no power could severe.

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(The Next Day)

"Monte Carlo that's our prom theme?" Jessica inquired while she and other students are looking at the flyers being handed out by Eric.

"mhm….gambling, tuxedo and Bond, James Bond" Eric replied confidently handing a flyer to Jessica which the latter found genuinely interesting.

Suddenly, as Angela was sweeping with her camera she caught a fascinating site. "Oh my god" She said gleefully from the serendipity.

It made everyone peer in to the direction of her gaze and saw Edward's Volvo, inside it was Bella. Edward then got off of his car and like a perfect gentleman assisted his girl by opening the door.

It was a relative shock for everyone, some were genuinely happy for them, most were a bit jealous and others such as Eric were completely devastated, as if the latter's hopes were violently crushed and incinerated, gazing glumly and in forlorn as the couple walk past him.

The other Cullens save Naruto has a hard expression on their faces like something unacceptable happened, something that may put all their lives in jeopardy.

"You know everybody's staring" Bella muttered inconspicuously to Edward.

"Not that guy…well he just looked." Edward quipped that made Bella somewhat smile. "I'm breaking all the rules now anyway, since I'm going to hell." Edward then continued with a crooked smile on his face, putting his arms around Bella.

As soon as Edward finished his sentence a burst of extremely effulgent flash emanated out of the blue, blanketing the immediate vicinity in a blinding white light closely shadowed by a deafening roar of thunder. It would seem that an arc of lightning precipitated from the cloudy sky and bolted itself sharply into the Volvo. The car's windshields shattered completely, its hood and left door melted in to smoldering slag and its engine fused from the exceedingly intense temperatures of the violent fulmination. Strangely though, the arcing stream of destruction didn't damage any other cars in proximity nor did it harm the students who were standing dangerously close to the Volvo when it struck.

Clamor and tumult then ensued. Out of shock, students and teachers alike curiously gathered around the burning wreckage that used to be Edward's car. The Cullen's, along with Bella rushed to the scene and beheld the full extent of the devastation that effectively made the vehicle irreparable.

Naruto looked at Edward, telepathically sending him and the other Cullen's a message. "Turn your attention to the right door just below the side mirror." His stern tone was much more directly felt by his siblings as his current disposition laced the extrasensory message.

Just beneath the side view mirror, right where Naruto pointed out, there were scratches elicited by the destructive power of the bolt that for some reason looked like a serpentine arrangement of letters. It was too microscopic for any human to percieve but vaguely intelligible to those with supernatural eyesight.

The Cullens were all horrified however as they scrutinized the cryptic scrape and deciphered the angry message inscribed. _**"Count your days…..the void awaits"**_

Bella noticed the Cullen's reaction; they were all glaring at the car with a grave and glowering expression as if they've seen something in the wreck that non from the growing crowd hasn't.

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Days have passed since the unfortunate incident. Due to the strange and horrifying circumstances that occurred the previous days Naruto conjured a shadow clone and decided to visit the one place where he think he might get an answer.

Decades ago he studied archeology at Miskatonic University in Arkham, Massachusetts. Under the direct tutelage of Dr. Henry Armitage, who was not only a respected scholar and linguist but also has great knowledge of the occult and has on more than one occasion brushed against otherworldly powers and entities.

However Dr. Armitage is now long dead, having succumbed from old age of eighty in 1945. His grandson however worked as the head librarian at the Orne library and Naruto hoped that he can provide him some answers.

Naruto's clone **Hiraishined** himself in to a flying thunder god formula inside the university campus that his original-self placed decades ago. As he entered the library a nostalgic feeling settled within him. The three story edifice was wrought in neo-classical design; its shelves contained a collection of more than four hundred thousand books of both antiquated and post-modern reference, some of which are rarer than any contained in the libraries of other prestigious universities.

"It looks exactly the same the last time I saw it" Naruto mumbled, amused.

"Excuse me. The library is closed would you please be so kind as to exit the premises…..Wait, I know you" A lanky scholar in his mid-sixties said but was flabbergasted as Naruto turned around to face him.

"Dr. Arthur Parker, I presume?" Naruto queried.

"Yes. I am Arthur Parker….good heavens it is you." Dr. Parker said as he musingly sifted through his memory." I was but a little boy when I last saw you Mr. Uzumaki." Having a serendipitous eureka moment, Dr. Parker then continued, smiling from the awe of seeing Naruto again after more than fifty years. "Though I must admit…I am most curious as to what reason brought you here after all these years?" He then inquired ponderously.

"Glad to see you too Arthur…and boy you've grown old." Naruto lightheartedly chuckled. "I wish I'm here on better terms though." His smile was then gradually replaced with a somber expression.

"Well yes, it's the side effect of time I'm afraid. I can see you're not plagued by such problems." Dr. Parker replied, chuckling, running his hand through his forehead, feeling his receding hairline. "Though I'm not sure I understand the last statement." He then said with a confused expression on his face.

"Maybe we should talk about this over a cup of coffee" Naruto said. His voice was cold, stern and mirthless, foreboding a topic that is eldritch and dark in nature.

"I think it would be best." Dr. Parker concurred with a wisdom of an old scholar, sensing that the subject they're about to discuss is quite delicate and profoundly grim, involving the horrendous forces of the supernatural.

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(Carver Café)

Earlier that day Charlie and Bella agreed to meet after school at Carvers Café for dinner. As Bella parked her truck outside of the diner she saw Mike who obviously has something to say about her relationship with Edward.

"Arizona!" Mike called as Bella came out from her truck. "Yo! What's happening?" He then greeted.

Bella smiled politely and was about to talk but was interrupted when Mike spoke again. "So, you…you and Cullen huh? That's…I don't like it. I mean you know, he looks at you like your something to eat." He said. Superficially he was smiling and his voice sounded innocent enough with just enough tremble of concern on it. On a more profound scrutiny however, one would notice that his tone was gilded with jealousy and was so colored with an intense hatred for Edward. "Isn't that right Alex?" He then tried to rally support from the young man who just arrived on the scene long enough to overhear their conversation.

"I always thought that they were a weird family of vampires" Alex shrugged. It sounded like a veiled gibe and Bella detected a severe odium directed to Edward in particular. It unnerved her for the young man's statement was, in a degree, technically a fact. The Cullens are indeed vampires and ironically enough they were considered strange by others of their kind.

This was the last straw for Bella. The pair of annoying boys reminded her of Si and Am from Lady and the Tramp; she used to watch that animated movie when she was younger and was always creeped out by those pair of sinister cats who love causing mischief at the expense of others. "Ok first that's none of your business…the both of you! Second, you guys should be ashamed of yourselves." She said sternly but in a calm voice, chastising Mike and Alex in to silence. She then looked at both with a disappointed glare, shook her head and quickly walked in to the diner.

"This is all Cullen's fault" Mike muttered in a voice that reflected his barely contained resentment for Edward.

"You betcha" Alex concurred. "Just say the word my friend and I will tear him apart….mind, body and soul." He then said in a phlegmatic tone that ironically made Mike chuckle, thinking it was just a harmless jest.

"Good one! Man I love your jokes!" Mike said sniggering, partially assuaged from his infuriation.

"Yes…a joke…of course" Alex replied calmly, with a vague smile on his face. Relaxing a bit and quickly undoing the divine arrangement he conjured that would have indubitably wrought a mind shattering quandary and unfathomably unpleasant doom upon Edward.

Tyler suddenly appeared out of nowhere and nonchalantly placed his arms on both Alex's and Mike's shoulders. "You…gentlemen…just got…friendzoooooned!" He then teased with a trolling smile on his face; much to the displeasure of the two who can't help but grimace on the awkward situation.

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Bella looked around spotting Charlie in their usual spot. She then walked over and sat next to him.

"I'm sorry I'm late. Biology project" Bella said as placed her bag atop an empty seat.

"I ordered you spinach salad. I hope that's ok?" Charlie replied.

"You should order one for yourself next time. Cut back on the steak." Bella teased him.

"Hey, I'm as healthy as a horse." Charlie retorted, folding the newspaper he was reading and placing it down as Cora served their food.

Cora then shakily cleared her throat and somberly spoke. "Say, Chief, boys want to know, did you find anything down by Queets River today?" The group of older men sitting behind her turned taciturn and looked to Charlie, waiting for his answer, curious of what the search party might have found.

"Yeah, we found a bare human footprint, but it looks like whoever that is, is headed east, so Kitsap County sheriff is gon'na take over from here. Okay?" Charlie said, calmly. Though, he too was greatly confounded.

"I just hope they catch him fast." Cora said with a strange and somber cadence in her voice as she tried to suppress breaking in to tears from the agony of Waylon's death.

"Looks like your friends are flagging you." Charlie pointed at the window behind Bella.

Bella was flabbergasted and was about to laugh as she turned around and was greeted by Mike who's shaking his booty like there's no tomorrow while Tyler, Alex and the other boys were having a good hearty laugh from it.

"It's okay if you want to go join them. I'm just gon'na turn in early anyway." Charlie told her.

"Me too" Bella said in a jaded tone. She's still quite mad at those two for being quite nosy and downright offensive; and if this is their way of making up to her then she's not impressed.

"Bella, it's Friday night. Go out." Charlie encouraged her. "Looks like the Newton boy got a big smile for you. Same goes for that Storm kid." He then told her.

"They're my friends." Bella said with a vague smile then turning her attention back to her salad.

"What about any of these other yahoos in town? Anybody interest you?" Charlie curiously and uncomfortably queried as he cut his steak.

"Dad, we gonna talk about boys?" Bella smirked from the strange question. The image of Edward flashed in her mind.

"Yeah, I guess not." Charlie realized that it is indeed strange for them to have such kind of father-daughter conversation and the sheer awkwardness of it made him chuckle as well. "I just feel like I leave you alone too much. You should be around people." He then continued, feeling a bit of guilt for what he thought of not being the best father to his daughter.

"I don't really mind being alone. I guess I'm kind of like my dad in that way." Bella replied, reassuring Charlie with a gentle smile that put his mind much at ease.

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(Orne Library – Head Librarian's Office)

"Extraordinary" Dr. Parker gaspingly commented in awe and amazement as Naruto told him his story along with his recent confrontation with the white worm. "I hope you won't find me skeptical but would it be possible if you could show me a demonstration this chakra?" He then continued with much wonderment.

Naruto is well aware that the story he just shared seems too incredible for credence, especially for the mundane people who aren't tempered to readily assimilate such truths. "Okay, watch closely" He said exuberantly with a big smile in his face. The shinobi then held out his palm and in a split second a swirling **rasengan** formed, taking Dr. Parker aback.

"Amazing!" The astounded librarian commented in much astonishment. Taking his glasses off and looking closely at the compacted ball of spinning chakra to make sure that he isn't hallucinating.

Naruto then disengaged the jutsu for fear that Dr. Parker might hurt himself if he get his face any closer to the rasengan in his palm. "I hope that's sufficient." He then said, smiling.

"Quite indeed" Dr. Parker said, still dazed but has quickly regained his composure.

"Arthur, I need your help. Before I left Miskatonic University decades ago, Dr. Armitage was in the middle of a breakthrough on an archeological research regarding extraplanar entities that came to Earth eons ago and worshipped by early humans civilization as gods. I believe that there's a connection between his work and the creature that attacked me and my family a few days ago." Naruto said in a calm but serious voice.

"I see." Dr. Parker said, clasping his hands together in deep contemplation. "You might have encountered one of the great old ones." He finally spoke, though he hoped that he was wrong.

"Great old ones?" Naruto inquired, perplexed.

"According to legend the great old ones as the epithet implied were unimaginably ancient and malignant creatures that once ruled the world as gods, constantly demanding bloody sacrifices and spreading cataclysm and madness where ever they go. It is said that the yoke they imposed upon the primitive humans were preserved up until now into the memories of modern man as their worst nightmares." Dr. Parker explained to Naruto in a deep, resonating voice like that of an orator.

"What happened to them?" Naruto queried once again, both in curiosity and terror.

"I, myself don't exactly know the answer to that question but numerous archeological artifacts and temple reliefs depicts them as being imprisoned beneath the sea or was exiled back in to the stars. Other scholars speculated that they went in to hibernation such as in the case of Cthulhu who, as the story goes, lie deep asleep in the skeleton city of R'lyeh. According to the writings of the philosopher Callimachus, it is implied that this hibernation was prompted when the outer gods, their vastly more powerful cousins, took interest of Earth and the fledgling humanity." Dr. Parker replied in the same deep and resonating scholarly voice.

Naruto was stilled for a long second as he sifted through his memory. "I remember you're late grandfather periodically mentioned things vaguely pertaining to these creatures during one of his lecture. I'm sure he made a compilation of his research regarding them."

"I'm afraid thay're no longer available Naruto….most of his works and other priceless manuscripts were lost during a fire years ago. Well, there is his journal but I doubt it will do you much good." Dr. Parker said in a somber voice, sipping some coffee to assuage the agony of the unfortunate circumstance.

"Would it be possible if I could examine it?" Naruto asked keenly.

"Of course" Dr. Parker complied, taking a leather bound journal off from a secret safe behind the painting of his grandfather then handed it to Naruto.

Naruto then carefully flipped the leaves of the journal only to find out that it was blank save for the first page which an uncanny couplet from the Necronomicon was transcribed in Dr. Armitage's handwriting.

" _That is not dead which can eternal lie,_ _  
_ _And with strange aeons even death may die."_

"And yes, we all thought that there's a hidden message in that journal. We tried everything but, nothing." Dr. Parker sighed before Naruto could ask.

As Naruto clasped the journal a vision of the elderly Dr. Henry Armitage writing something in it flashed before his eyes.

"Naruto, channel your chakra in to the journal and let's see what happens." Kurama said inside Naruto's head. The shinobi was thinking of the same thing and did so.

Suddenly, letters, words, entire sentences and paragraphs materialized in to the empty pages of the journal and declare their meaning like landforms arising violently from the watery abyss of the ocean floor.

Dr. Parker was once again astounded, his eyes the size of dinner plates for he never saw more thaumaturgies in his lifetime than that single afternoon.

"It would seem that the contents of his journal are particularly perilous thus Dr. Armitage opted to conceal it." Naruto deduced which the head librarian couldn't agree more.

Naruto then turned his attention to the journal and began to read its contents which was fascinating albeit dark and horrific.

" _On the 29_ _th_ _of September, 1937. I, Henry Armitage by virtue of the magic of necromancy have called upon the wandering specter of the wizard Namirrha and have learned from his accounts the lore of the supernatural and supermundane powers that clutched the Earth in its infancy. I have written in this journal the arcane knowledge vouchsafed to me by the dead sorcerer along with the veritable lore of the gods. I have placed precautions for what this journal contained is not meant to be read with impunity for its misuse beckon consequences that are ineffably dire and unspeakable."_

The scope of the material in the journal is truly staggering and encyclopedic. Containing various incantations and descriptions of magical experiments. Along with the autobiography of the sorcerer and his studies, triumphs and accomplishments in the art of the occult. It also highlighted the early life of Namirrha that spurted him to become a dark wizard of god-like repute and further increased his power by driving his own bond with the arcfiend Thasaidon.

Naruto found a particular account of the dark wizard's life interesting. It depicted his knowledge and accounts with regards to the great old ones and the even higher and more powerful entities they serve.

" _In time immemorial beings with god-like might collectively known as the great old ones came_ _from the darkness between the stars. They were beings not wrought of terrain flesh and whose disposition is malignantly alien to our own. They enslaved early humanity and other sentients who dwelt in the seas, caves and the forests of the earth, imposing their tyrannical yoke upon them. The blood of the innocent cascaded endlessly like crimson rivers from the incessant sacrifices they demanded to sate their unquenchable hunger and lust for power._

 _Eventually the local pantheon of earthbound gods heard their followers prayers and deemed to act. They waited for the perfect opportunity to strike and when it finally came they descended upon the great old ones and unleashed they're divine fury on them. The battle of the immortals raged on for eons, devastating the planet and extinguishing everything that came between them, until eventually a truce was made._

 _The ripples of the fighting however have attracted the attention of higher and more dangerous entities."_

It was late afternoon and they continued to read; and rays of dusty amber were slanting through the low panes of the library windows. As they read on, they gave no heed to the sinking of the light; and the last words were plain as runes of fire when they finished their perusal in the dusk.

Naruto and Dr. Parker learned the history of the outer gods' advent on to Earth but clueless as to what they are. That was until they turned to a particular page depicting one of Namirrha's dialogue with Thasaidon in his quest to command an ever expanding array of ancient thaumaturgic knowledge.

" _Even Thasaidon, lord of seven hells, cringed when I queried concerning the vast entities known only as the outer gods. His avatar was taciturn for a long interim but has hesitantly agreed to furnish the information I require._

 _Know that there are two outer gods who held dominion over Earth in the chambers beyond time and space that they shaped trough the power of their mentifery. They were perpetually attended and worshipped by both earth bound deities and great old ones that continually and endlessly prostrate before them._

 _The first of these outer gods is Nyarlathotep, the crawling chaos. The god of discord, dissonance and madness. Spawned by the blind idiot god Azathoth during the formation of the universe to serve as his avatar and messenger, giving his creation the free will and intelligence it lacked. It is said that he has a thousand other forms and manifestations with each far worse and sanity blasting than the other. Deceptive and manipulative, he delights in cruelty. Unlike the other outer gods, causing madness is more important and enjoyable than death and destruction to him._

 _The other one is called Errealth, the morning star. The god of balance who presides over the equilibrium between time and space. A relatively young god, he is the spawn of Yog-sothoth. However, unlike his all-knowing father he is not omniscient, but rather inherited his great-grandfather's (Azathoth) ultipotence; wielding the endless raw power and limitless energies of the infinite multiverse. Unlike his co-ruler he does not appear to be especially malevolent but is mercurial, capricious and easily offended, and thus unpredictable. Even the mighty Cthulhu thread lightly when dealing with him for those who transgress this outer god or the aspect he represents is doomed to an eternity of ageless torment and unfathomable suffering. Errealth is very dangerous even by the standards of his kind to the point that other outer gods prevents him from becoming too powerful by inordinately going through great lengths to hide information and knowledge that would otherwise enable him to access the higher facets of his power."_

Suddenly a vision flashed before Naruto's eyes like a bizarre dream. The shinobi as if looking through the eyes of Namirrha found no words to convey the incomprehensible wonder of it all. He found himself in a strange realm which is composed of an infinite number of dimensional layers, but unlike those of the mundane world, they were thin and can range from an inch to a mile thick but on average, each layer is separated from the other by about ten feet. With his **rinnengan** Naruto was able to see through many of the dimensions simultaneously. He saw through about twenty layers at once, each one blurrier than the last. He observed that these layers were also highly morphic. On the whim of the alien entities that drift through them, they continually evaporate, divide, spawn, and breathe. Changes in the elemental and energy traits of the layers continuously occur, creating what looked like an eldritch storm. These changes can be seen from far off, moving from layer to layer as a storm moves across the face of a normal world.

At the focal point of the swirling chaos Naruto saw a great edifice of such vastness and magnificence. As he entered, he then gaspingly beheld a hall of immense, indefinite scope, whose black adamantine walls and roof surreally stretched between multiple dimensional planes and realities.

Naruto then saw two surreal beings, each mounted like monarchs on crystalline high thrones that were hewn spontaneously from every substance imaginable. Those who gaze into the crystalline substance that composes these thrones saw more than light reflected and refracted in the fluctuating facets of the shining surfaces. One may catch glimpses of fears, miseries, and hopes made visually manifest; dreams and nightmares; histories real and imagined; potential futures; images of torment, ecstasy, and despair; and abstract thoughts made momentarily concrete as pictures in the crystals.

One of them was nightmarish beyond compare; composed of amorphous black writhing tentacles and with eyes and maws scattered all over its dark and opaque bulk that was swirling and spinning as if alive with the vortical chaotic energies of dark eons. It then suddenly transformed in to a gangling faceless humanoid with skin as sable as the dark abyss of the ninth layer of hell and wore the garbs of ancient pharaohs along with a high pschent crown atop its head. In its left hand was a staff coiled with innumerable slithering serpents and ever did they hiss in a sanity shattering cadence. It then laughed maniacally, mocking the less powerful deities who knelt and kowtowed perpetually before it.

The other looked like a solid black silhouette of a youth riddled with iridescent starry-like spots akin to that of a cloudless night sky. A great platinum halo etched with unknown gleaming runes, and eternally burning with iridescent flames of emerald and azure hovered above its head like a crown. Its body, along with what looked like diaphanous wings or tendrils on its back that seems to be made from long streams of light gracefully flittered in to the air and was engulfed in a fiery blue-white aura that seemed to distort the very fabric of reality and decussate the boundaries between the material, spiritual, conceptual and metaphysical planes while numerous flickering orbs of energy akin to that of miniature stars continuously form, pulse and nova as they orbit around the being like electrons on a nucleus that coruscated with eldritch glints making him all but intolerably dazzling and blinding to behold.

Naruto felt an uncanny sensation of smallness and triviality as he assimilated these dark revelations and beheld the horrific beings and forces that was much larger than him, and is beyond his control or even his understanding. Naruto then realized why he felt fear, it isn't because these beings are powerful but because they are potent in a scale he couldn't even comprehend for he had no way to relate their unknowable vastness and illimitable power to his respective mundane abilities. Mind shattering fear soon nestled itself in to the core of his being for even to glimpse an outer god is to go mad.

"Kid! Snap out of it!" Kurama growled that made Naruto came back to his senses and regain his sanity which was failing by the second.

Naruto then found himself back in to the office of Dr. Parker and saw the old man lying cold on the floor. As if shock and fear has overwhelmed his already frail heart. The shinobi then used his six path sage power to revive the latter and cast a **genjutsu** to erase the mind shattering visions from his psyche.

He then made a seal of confrontation and cast a powerful **genjutsu** with his **rinnengan.** The letters on the pages then started to fade and disappear like ebbing tides, leaving only lacunae of blank void. He opted to do so in order to make certain that none could unwittingly unleash the horrors contained within the journal.

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 **Hey there folks!**

 **Sorry I wasn't able to update the story for quite a while as I was in a business trip these past few days, though I know it's not really an excuse.**

 **Anyways, weird stuff began stack up and Naruto decided to investigate. This will eventually lead him to the discovery of the truth regarding the destruction of the elemental nations and the fate of its denizens but that would come on much later chapters.**

 **This chapter is particularly dark as I tried to recreate the writing style of HP Lovecraft to the best of my amateur abilities and describe what Naruto is up against. Also, the outer god(s) in the story will play the role of an insurmountable shadow that looms over the adventures of the protagonists.**

 **I hope you enjoyed reading and as always, any suggestions or comments that will help improve the story is much welcomed.**

 **Cheerio :)**


	9. Chapter 9: Angels and Demons

(Orne Library)

Arthur Parker was practically dead when Naruto came back to his senses and saw him lying on the mottled gray carpet of his office. The shinobi wasted no time; rippled patterns emerged from the now light purple sclera and iris of his eyes, a golden shroud of warm and bright chakra then engulfed his body. Using his six path sage power combined with the immense raw energies of the **Juubi** he endeavored to pull the head librarian's essence from the netherworld ad was successful. Once the scholar was revived, Naruto then cast a genjutsu to erase the horrors which the former have been subjected to.

"Are you alright Arthur?" Naruto inquired as he saw his friend's eyes slowly open.

"Yes….What happened? I can't help but feel this indescribable fear…like waking up from a nightmare I couldn't remember." Dr. Parker said in a weary voice, still dazed. Though Naruto erased his memories the fear still lingered like embers from a great conflagration. "What happened to your eyes?" He then queried curiously as he saw the blondes' **rinnengan**.

"I'll explain later. The important thing is that you're fine now." Naruto said as he turned his attention to his mentor's journal. He then formed a seal of confrontation and cast a powerful genjutsu through his rinnengan, followed by an even more potent **fuinjutsu** that he hoped to seal the horrific lore contained within it.

The writings on the said journal waned and dwindled until it was once again a collection of blank pages bound by a leather cover. As both men were about to let out a sigh of relief an ominous prodigy occurred; the fuinjutsu Naruto cast upon the journal can't seem to fully complete its sequence, as if the arcane balefulness of the of its contents is fighting back, preventing it from being enclosed by the sealing formula.

The fuinjutsu then inexorably shattered and the journal's leaves began to turn rapidly like a deck of cards being shuffled. Then from its dexter hinge a strange rune formed and black liquescent matter began to gush in a sudden torrent, swiftening and deepening as it poured incessantly.

Naruto and Dr. Parker was horrified, with the latter opted to pull a revolver hidden on his desk as the black tarry liquid began to morph in to a horrific blob that transformed in to one of the strange alien creature they saw earlier from the phantasmagoric vision. It looked parallel to an immense fish-like amphibian; resembling a bizarre eel with long, tubular and segmented body, as well as a tail at one end and two fins near the head and another along the back. A little bit back from the head are four long tentacles, two sprout from across each other on the top, and two more of the same on the underbelly.

The creature is called Bakunawa, one of the numerous semi-sentient entities that drift along the infinite dimensional layers of outer god's realm, feeding on the ambient psychic energies of the immaterial plane.

It would seem that creature locked on the vast psychic presence of the Juubi within Naruto, which was like a potent shining beacon drawing it. It then crossed the barriers in to the mundane reality humans occupy through the journal, using it as a portal.

Being a multi-dimensional entity by nature, it continuously phased itself in and out between dimensions as it flew around the library passing through solid objects like a specter. From a mortal's point of view, it appeared to be moving in a spasmodic manner, fluttering in brief irregular bursts of movements.

Abruptly, the Bakunawa flew upwards, coursing through the walls and roof the building unhindered. It then convulsed and coiled itself in to a tight ball; releasing a blinding light and deafening sound that briefly benumbed Naruto's senses and caused Dr. Parker to lose consciousness from the all-out sensory assault.

Due to the immense psychic energies released by billions of human minds the creature evolved in to a vast dragon-like entity with a pair of sweeping wings on its serpentine body; one of which was massive enough to encompass the entire building as they spread while the smaller pair was located just aback its larger counterpart.

"Damn it!" Naruto cursed. The expression on his face was grim and severe, glaring darkly on the creature. He then formed a **Mini Tailed Beast Ball** and was about to launch it on the Bakunawa when the creature suddenly evaporated in to a vapor like form. It then latched itself in to the shinobi, manifesting as a dragon like mark akin to that of a tattoo that spiraled on his left forearm.

"Uhh what just happened?" Naruto pondered with a comical expression on his face.

"It would seem that it likes you kid" Kurama grinned then answered him in a gruff voice.

"So it decided to become an accessory?" Naruto queried, he's fully aware of what's happening but for some reason wanted to tease the fox.

"You can use it as a personal summon you dope." Kurama replied, starting to get annoyed.

"Cool" Naruto acted overly delighted, like a child who just set foot inside of Willy Wonka's chocolate factory.

In reply Kurama scoffed with a loud "Pfft!"

"Is that jealousy I sniff?" Naruto once again arched with a cheeky grin on his face.

"Screw you, you blonde idiot!" Kurama sneered as he realized the shinobi's trolling.

Naruto burst in to a loud belly laugh, slapping his thighs from the amusement of seeing the fox's exasperated expression.

"Naruto is everything alright? What happened to that….thing?" Dr. Parker, who just regained his consciousness inquired with a quivering voice.

"Don't worry about it Arthur, everything is alright now. Though you might want to lock your grandfather's journal somewhere more secure." Naruto replied in a gentle voice, flashing an easy smile that conveyed his reassurance.

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(Forks - The Next Day)

As Bella woke up she was greeted by a beam of light emanating from the window of her room. Immediately rising from her bed she then gazed in to the transparent glass and saw that the skies were clear and it was strangely sunny. It made her feel blissful as she felt the golden warm rays gently touched her skin but the weather has also ushered some glum and dejection as she realized that she won't be seeing Edward today due to the same ironic circumstance.

At school, Mike ceaselessly and obsessively followed Bella all day up until government class like a golden retriever. Constantly trying to make amends for upsetting her the other day and at the same time duplicitously lulling her away from Edward and in to his arms. Eventually, it became too tiresome that she just decided to just be magnanimous.

" _Great….now for the other one."_ Bella thought while letting out a sigh of exasperation as she walked the corridors to biology. She was pertaining to Alex who will surely be as persistent as Mike is. Frankly, she already had her day's quota of importunate people and her vexation is only exacerbated by the fact of Edward's absence.

As Bella entered the classroom she indeed saw the young man who didn't seem to notice her for he was reading a curious looking tome. He was wearing a light henley tee that fit him snugly, emphasizing his muscular chest and overall well-built body. This, coupled with the young man's imperious good looks has distracted Bella and being naturally clumsy tripped and crashed over Alex who was equally flabbergasted by it all.

"Uhmm are you alright Bella?" Alex asked awkwardly in a rather sheepish and shy voice.

"Yeah" Bella replied in the same tone, blushing.

"You know Alex, she'll probably be far better if you actually get off of her!" Mike sneered that made the two realize the awkward position they're in; their faces were dangerously close to each other and everyone in the room was staring at them.

" _I mean come on! This is so unfair! It's a good thing he's so naïve"_ Mike then thought.

" _Why does she get all of the boy's attention around here?"_ Jessica contemptuously and jealously thought.

"Oh yeah sorry" Alex diffidently muttered, blushing red as tomato. He would've helped Bella get up but Mike moved as fast as lightning and beat him to it.

"Thanks" Bella smiled vaguely as Mike helped her up, deeply uncomfortable from all the unwanted attention, as if each individual stare was like a tiny needle piercing through her skin.

"What the hell dude!" Mike hissed to Alex in a barely audible voice.

"I didn't actually plan for that to happen you know." The young man replied to his friend in the same manner.

"But you enjoyed it don't you?" Mike said in a doubtful tone and with an incredulous glare.

Guilty as charged, Alex just gave him a small nod and a sheepish smile.

The room was filled with tumult and rustling murmurs of students talking and chatting to each other since it was still a bit early for class and there's a note from Mr. Molina that he'll be late today due to an urgent school business no doubt.

"Uhmm Bella?" Alex said in a sheepish voice.

"Yeah?" Bella replied, turning her face to the young man.

"I'm…well…sorry for the way I acted the other day" Alex mumbled in an even more timid tone.

"It's ok…forget it" Bella said with a gentle smile.

"Thanks" Alex replied with a much more assuaged expression on his face. "So…are we good?" He then said with a boyish smile and a double thumbs-up that Bella finds genuinely cute.

"Yeah. Were good" She then chuckled, amused by her seatmate.

"Let me make it up to you at least." Alex said with a flattering smile.

"That wouldn't be necessary Alex" Bella sighed, sensing a Mike Newton 2.0 scene all over again.

"Come on, tell me your wish" Alex said enthusiastically and with an ebullient smile playing at the edges of his lip.

Caught by the statement Bella was taciturn for a long second. "Ok…I wish it rains" She then made her request in a tired voice. She thought it's impossible for the young man to fulfill her demand and also because a part of her deeply yearns for Edward who wasn't able to show himself due to the effulgent rays of the sun.

"So let me get this straight. You're in a town that rains almost year round and in the rare chance that the sun show's up you want it….gone?" Alex amusedly queried.

"Basically" Bella flirtingly muttered. _"What am I doing…I can't believe I'm flirting with him"_ She then an uncomfortable thought.

"I must say. You never really struck me as an ombrophile" Alex said chuckling.

"A what?" Bella queried with a furrowed brow, thinking that the last word was something inappropriate.

"A person who loves rain" Alex replied in kind and alluring voice. "Look" He then gently pointed Bella to the window behind her.

Bella then saw the blue being gracefully blanketed by the imminent billows of cumulonimbus that were spreading uniformly throughout the sky; its looming shade gradually caused the immediate vicinity to moderately darken. Then droplets of rain began to trickle, falling gently on the plants and flowers, magnifying their natural hues, intensifying their colors to deepen and become more vivid.

"How did you…" Flummoxed, Bella asked out of wonderment.

"I would love to claim the credit but the truth is it's just a coincidence Bella" Alex explicated in a gentle voice and with a jovial smile on his face. At the back of his head however, he was in frantic and quite in distraught. _"Oh crap, what have I just done? Why on earth did I agree to this? Now 'Emo-dward' is gon'na show up any time soon to ruin everything."_ He then thought.

As if on cue, Edward walked in to the threshold of the classroom door. In actuality, he was always nearby, indiscernibly concealed and watching over Bella as he was quite protective of her.

He greeted Bella with a soft smile but was rather dour and cold on Alex, which he eyed quite darkly. Bella's face then livens as she saw Edward, conveying a love that is both perdurable and supernal.

"Hey, can I ask a favor? Do you mind if Edward and I sit together? Just for today." Bella then turned to her seatmate and asked in a persuading voice coupled with puppy dog eyes that bent the young man to involuntarily comply.

"Yeah…sure…no problem" He responded somewhat reluctantly and with sad smile. Silently grabbing his backpack, along with the strange book he's reading earlier then glumly moved to a seat just a few rows behind the couple. Obviously hurt but didn't let anyone notice it.

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(La Push – First Beach)

"Base from your stories, Sam sounds a really stuck-up guy….what do you see in him anyway?" Emily said in a ponderous voice, handing Leah a sandwich.

"I don't know….I just love him." Leah answered, unsure. When she and Sam became a couple some time ago she was definitely certain that she has found a soul mate in him. She loves him like no other but apparently something has change, and she couldn't explain nor fathom what it is.

"How about him?" Emily whispered, pertaining to Naruto.

"I don't know" Leah said in a confounded tone, laying her palms on her face then running it up to her forehead.

Suddenly Sam arrived, along with Paul and Jared. The latter two just phased in to their wolf forms a couple of weeks ago and the former was acting as their alpha and leader.

As soon as Sam saw Emily, a profound and intimate spark ignited deep within his core and filled him with glowing warmth that coursed throughout his body. He then felt unconditionally drawn and ultimately tethered to the young woman as if their spirits were linked by an inseverable celestial bond.

"Sam, is everything alright?" Leah asked, confounded and a bit suspicious of her boyfriend who was staring soulfully at her cousin.

"Yeah" Sam responded. With great difficulty he severed his gaze from Emily and lied to Leah.

Paul and Jared were uncannily silent. Being telepathically linked to one another, privacy is something nonexistent and they could hear their alpha's thoughts quite clearly and subtly feel the intense emotions raging through him.

Like a sweet irony, Emily, who earlier was quite skeptical and downright sardonic of Sam became both mute and dumbfounded as she saw the latter. She was immediately filled with an uncanny feeling of wonderment and complete admiration for him, as if love on first site.

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(Later that Day)

So does a person have to be dying to become like you? Bella curiously queried as she and Edward was walking just passed the forest and in to the rocky river banks.

"No….It's just Carlisle. He'll never do this to someone who has no other choice." Edward responded, albeit hesitant at first.

"So how long have you been like this?" Bella looked up to him and inquired once more.

"Since 1918. Carlisle found me, dying with Spanish influenza." Edward replied.

At that point heavy rain started to pour in cascading showers from the ominous dark clouds that abruptly formed above them, they then heard a thunderous roar from blackened skies and opted to seek shelter, away from the drenching rainfall.

"What was it like?" Bella continued her curious inquiry.

"The venom was excruciating…but what Carlisle did was much harder. Not many of us has the restraint to do that" Edward replied in grim voice as he reminisced the painful process.

"But didn't he just have to…bite" Bella was muddled and had a hard time choosing the right words for her follow-up question.

"When we taste…human blood, a sort of frenzy begins. It's almost impossible to stop." Edward said in a voice that was filled with a strange cadence and fearful tremble.

"So is Carlisle the real reason why you don't kill people?" Bella inquired carefully.

"No, it's not…I don't want to be a monster" Edward was silent for a while then spoke in a reserved and low voice. "My family, we think of ourselves as vegetarians. We only survive on the blood of animals….but it's like a human only living on tofu. It makes you strong but never really fully satisfied." He then looked to Bella with a reassuring smile then explained his position in an analogy.

"Are there other vampires out there?" Bella continued her long train of questions.

"Be careful around your new friend Bella." Edward said in a mirthless tone. He thought that Alex is a vampire and is the one responsible for Waylon's death, along with the chain of other recent murders.

"Who?" Bella asked, perplexed.

Edward didn't answer her question and became silent all together. The expression on his face turned hard and foreboding.

Bella chose not to venture any further and changed the topic. "Can the rest of your family read minds like you can?"

"No…It's just me and Naruto" He replied in a much calmer tone.

"He's interesting. The happiest vampire I've ever seen." Bella said, smiling.

"Naruto isn't a vampire" Edward chuckled. "He's a different kind of immortal" He then told Bella with a trace of smile on his lip.

"I don't think I understand" Bella said with a confounded expression on her face.

"He's more like a demi-god…you know part god, part human. He's the oldest among us, older than Carlisle himself and indisputably the most powerful. Even the Volturi flinch by the mere mention of his name." Edward then explained proudly.

"Okay…..I didn't expect that" Bella breathily commented in astonishment. "How old is he? And what's a Vlturi?" She then curiously inquired out of fascination.

"Hmmm…guess" Edward replied, holding back a smile behind his lips.

"Okay…three hundred?" Bella said, more of an inquiry than a deduction.

"No" Edward replied with a crooked smile.

"Five hundred" Bella once again guesstimated.

"Still no" Edward shook his head, smiling.

"Okay I give up" Bella sighed in submission.

"If what I heard from Carlisle is true then Naruto is just a little over ten thousand years old." Edward told Bella that made the latter's eyes widen in both surprise and disbelief.

"Ten thousand!" Bella gaspingly echoed, stunned.

"The subject of age bugs him though so try not to mention it as much as possible when he's around." Edward quipped in a velvety voice that made Bella smile as well.

Amidst the light hearted merriment, their gaze locked gently upon each other like the merging of seasons in to an unconquerable force. As Bella soulfully looked through Edward's honey hued eyes she could almost see her soul staring back, crooning the irrevocable love she had for him.

Time itself seemed slow down significantly as their faces inexorably get closer and closer to each other. Bella closed her eyes, keenly anticipating for their lips to meet and their souls to converge. Out of the blue however it started to hail. Pellets of frozen rain started to fall from the clouds that curiously formed with unnatural swiftness. As if things weren't disrupting enough a particularly large hail stone, the size of a watermelon, plunged from the heavens and darted itself to the back of Edwards head, causing him to stumble and skid face first in to the mud and moss encrusted ground.

Due to his vampire physiology however, the blunt force from the hail stone's impact was far from lethal but it hurt, a lot.

Eerily, as Edward was trying to get up from the ground he could've sworn to have heard a puckish snigger emanating from the forest like the playful rustlings of a mischievous wind.

"Oh my god! Are you alright?" Bella worriedly exclaimed.

"Yeah….though I'm starting to feel that nature really hates me." Edward replied, dazed and was barely able to stand from the impact induced stupor and bewilderment.

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(Cullen's Residence)

Despite the untoward incident earlier Edward went home with a big smile on his face. It was a strange site for the other members of the coven as they are used to his usually stoic and unenthusiastic demeanor. Then Naruto knowing exactly the reason behind his bronze haired brother's glee mischievously decided to tease and prank him a little.

"Oh hey there Edward!" Naruto said with a fox like smile on his face.

" _Not this again"_ Edward nervously thought, having a rather bad omen that things will get really embarrassing, really soon. "Hey" He then replied to Naruto with a low voice expecting one of Naruto's witticisms that always finds him as the most vulnerable victim, frankly he hates it.

"So you and her huh?" Naruto said in a curious tone.

"Yes" Edward replied unenthusiastically in a near exasperated voice.

"Cool" Naruto smiled and then left.

Edward was flummoxed from the unexpected behavior of Naruto but was still quite suspicious that the blonde is just biding time and will strike while he least expects it.

Few hours lapsed since their conversation and the golden rays of the sun has subsided and was replaced by the gentle light of the peering moon and stars. Edward then felt a strange and familiar presence as he heard someone knocking at the door. As he opened the wooden portal of their house he saw Bella standing on the other side.

"Bella?" Edward said in a perplexed voice. He was completely caught off guard and the confused countenance on his face was priceless. "What are you doing here…..Naruto!" He was about to inquire the reason of her visit but then realized that the person in front of her was Naruto guised as Bella.

Suddenly 'Bella" was engulfed with a puff of smoke then reverted back to Naruto who was laughing his heart out from amusement of the prank he just pulled.

"That look on your face…..priceless!" Naruto said chortling and was apparently about to lose breath from the barely controlled laughter.

"Yes, very funny…are you done yet?" Edward responded in a jaded tone and with a deadpan face, obviously exasperated.

"Oh come on! Don't be such kill joy man! Give me five Casanova! Naruto jubilantly said with that sly fox smile of his. Raising his right hand for a high-five.

Out of annoyance and perhaps some desire to get back on his golden haired brother; Edward slammed the door hard on Naruto's face.

"Ouch" Naruto exclaimed on the dexter side of the door that made Edward silently smirk.

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(Konoha - Ten Thousand Years Ago)

The sky was blue as the Caspian Sea. For the first time in many years Hinata Hyuga, who is now the sixth Hokage, can finally sleep well without the fears and nightmares of the past for the war of the elemental nations has come to an end. The survivors of the plague have decided to unite and rebuild their destroyed lives and settlements not as fractionalized individuals, clans or villages but as a single people.

" _Naruto kun…I wish you are here. I wish you could see the fruition of our dreams. So much blood has been spilled but at last….it's over now….we'll finally have peace."_ She nostalgically pondered, holding a red scarf that she knitted years ago while looking at the superbly towering statue of the shinobi from the Hyuga clan's estate.

She remembered the pain all too well like it was yesterday. Years ago her father, Hiashi Hyuga, favored her younger sister Hanabi as the primary heir of the Hyuga clan over her; and worst still he has also deemed Hinata a failure and a lost cause; unfit to bear the Hyuga name and a disgrace to the clan. She then reminisced the days when she slowly lost faith in herself and would spend her time alone, crying.

This however changed one snowy day. While preparing to enroll in to the Academy, a group of bullies beleaguered and degraded her due to her **Byakugan**. Suddenly there was this young and rambunctious blonde boy who refused to stand idle by while the bullies insult her and unflinchingly came to her defense. However since the bullies outnumber her defender, they trounced him badly and trampled over his scarf. One of the only few earthly possessions he had.

This profound event has changed Hinata's life and made her not only able to feel an utmost admiration for Naruto but also was able to relate to his pains and strong desire to be acknowledged and praised since they were both considered outcasts by the people around them.

She was also amazed that despite having nothing and no one to rely on, Naruto never gave up in believing he could become something great like the Hokage. Inspired by his determination, Hinata decided to try her best to become strong so she could be acknowledged as well, and adopted his conviction of never giving up. Her admiration for Naruto eventually grew into love, despite warnings from her elders to stay away from him.

For years it has been her desire to give the red scarf that she painstakingly knit to Naruto not only as a token of gratitude for defending her years ago but also as the ultimate expression of her purest love for him. However, every time she attempted to do so it ends up in usually awkward situations with the clueless blonde.

Reminiscing all the awkward moment of her childhood made Hinata both smile gently and tears fell from her eyes out of nostalgia and the pain of realizing that she will never see her friends again for all of them perished during the third shinobi world war.

Suddenly Hinata felt a looming presence. Activating her Byakugan, she then shifted to her gentle fist stance and prepared to combat the intruder. Turning around, she saw a rather good looking young man with iridescent deep blue eyes leaning on the threshold of her room, coldly staring at her with an equally cold smile on his face.

"After all this years you're still carrying a torch. How quaint." The young man said in mockery of her love for Naruto.

"You know nothing!" Hinata exclaimed in defense.

"Obviously not" He smirked sardonically "You gave him the gift of your love and got nothing in return. Bitter isn't it?" He then continued to deride her.

"Who are you?" Hinata demanded with a suspicious galre.

"Does it matter?" The young man replied, nonchalantly.

"Lady Hokage!" An **Anbu** exclaimed as he and his squad rushed to her aid.

"You interrupted our discussion. How rude." The displeased young man said with a demonic voice. He then cupped his right hand then gracefully raised it to the heavens that caused the sky to roar with thunder and flash upon flash, blaze with lightning.

The Anbus were then violently launched in to the air as countless reticulating bolts of lightning struck and incinerated them as they ascend. All that remained of the elite ninjas were flurrying hot clouds of ashes that were quickly scattered by the whistling gush of wind.

"Behold the fate of all heroes." The young man then laughed maniacally. Genuinely amused by the wanton murder he committed.

However, in spite of his cold blooded demeanor the young man possessed a quality that is most confounding. Like an enigmatic force that no one could resist, working his enchantments upon any human with the fatal music of his voice. For a moment he made Hinata forget everything; she could only listen to him, and love him, and be his slaves, to do with him as he would. He made her drunk with the joy of being with him, and of looking into the heaven of his eyes, and of feeling the ecstasy that thrilled along her veins from the touch of his hand. Then the image of Naruto flashed before her eyes that made her claim back her almost lost volition and saw the horrific reality.

Hinata was frozen in fear as she witnessed the squadrons of Anbu and countless other leaf shinobi effortlessly extinguished by the young man. She was stunned in horrific astonishment as she saw the young man's skin began to shimmer akin to his eerie glowing eyes while being gradually engulfed in a fiery blue-white aura that seemed to break down and shatter the very concept of reality before him. A great platinum halo etched with unknown gleaming runes, and eternally burning with iridescent flames of emerald and azure suddenly materialized and hovered above his head like a crown; while numerous flickering orbs of energy that looked like miniature stars continuously formed and oscillate ever so brightly and dazzling, revolving and orbiting around him in a graceful elliptical motion. Subsequently, long streams of light began to sprout from the young mans' back and grew in to long appendages coated in the same fiery bluish-white energy. These streams of light flittered gracefully in to the air forming what she could best describe as angel's wings. Magnificent as they look, these streams hide a much more sinister purpose as its wielder used them individually as tendrils; binding the attacking ninjas in a tight hold and burning their flesh as if it's being coiled by great filaments heated to white incandescence, then slamming their charred corpses with immense force sufficient to create small craters upon impacting the earth.

Hinata then found herself along with the mysterious stranger hovering high above **Konoha**. She beheld the village's buildings lessen and sink beneath her. It seemed that she and the young man flew skyward to a prodigious height, and she peered down across the rooftops of her own estate, upon the houses, the tilled fields and the forest beyond, and the blood tinted sun brought low on its verge. And Hinata grew giddy; and the chill airs of the upper heavens blew upon her. She was soon dumbfounded with trepidation as she saw the village along with the distraught and panic stricken people bellow her feet.

"What are you?" Hinata gaspingly inquired, awestricken.

"Believe me. You don't want to know how many answers that question have." The young man turned his gaze upon his horrified onlooker and replied in a tranquil but eerie echoing voice.

He then held his hand and with an indolent flick of his wrist the entire landscape was suddenly filled with a dense unearthly fog and darkness fluttered in the air like a celestial shadow steadily quenching the sun's light. Out of the mists opened a great luminous chasm that seemed to ignore the laws of physics as it distorts and warped the fabric of space-time. From the portal, emerged a titanic pillar of white flame of intolerable intensity and within it are shadowy figures of the worst nightmares of humanity brought in to existence and projected in to reality by the baleful power of the outer god's mentifery.

Hinata watched in horror as she saw the villagers devoured, mutilated and massacred by the macabre monstrosities that the dark deity has unleashed upon them. She begged him to show compassion as she saw the gruesome fate that descended upon her people. She saw men, women, young and old shrieking in pain and horror, supplicating in anguish, and dying in the most horrific and unspeakable ways imaginable. Her pleas however were ignored and brushed off; instead the young man flashed an enigmatic boyish smile in reply.

"There is a storm now and an earthquake if you like….you must stand aside…out of danger." He then said smirking in amusement at the sight of her shocked and horrified expression, as if the cruel carnage wasn't anything beyond mere entertainment to him.

Out of the pitch black firmaments, bolts of infernal flame shone red and fierce as they darted like burning projectiles, blasting everything they impacted in to utter ruin; along with arcs of lightning that surreally cascaded continuously from the skies like bright pylons of pure destruction.

Instantly, it seemed that great ebon clouds of thunder beetled against the sun. Lining the horizon, the clouds took the form of colossal monsters with heads and members somewhat resembling hydras. Rearing terribly, they trod down the sun like an extinguished ember. They then rose higher and vaster, coming towards Konoha. Deep, calamitous rumblings preceded them, and the earth shook visibly. Hinata saw that these were not immaterial clouds, but actual living forms that had come forth to tread the world in macrocosmic vastness. Throwing their shadows for many leagues before them, the vile entities charged unstoppable into the land of fire, and their feet descended like falling mountain crags upon far oases and towns of the outer landscape. Then immense fissures opened and both the living and the dead were swallowed by the unforgiving earth.

"Why are you doing this" Hinata tearfully queried in aghast.

"I have heard their prayers of equality and peace and thus I have come to fulfill their hearts desire." The young man said in a voice that was strangely sincere, free from neither malice nor ill will.

Hinata couldn't believe what she just heard nor how the enigmatic stranger says them with such innocence and blamelessness. "You murdered them." She then replied in a voice filled with rage and agony.

"And granted their wish. Is there anything more peaceful than walking on a planet of a billion corpses? Is there not a more supernal equalizer than death?" The young man coldly replied, again without any trace malevolence in his voice.

To this Hinata was taciturn. She then stood and beheld the ruining that was brought to her people.

"Do not fret for I have wrought well for the entirety of the human race, though it doesn't look like it on the surface. Your race never really knew good fortune form ill; always mistaking one for the other." The dark god said in a pleasant voice. "I can sense a nostalgic longing in you. Might that be love for him who you shall never see again?" He then inquired. His head was slightly tilting and there was a slightly perplexed countenance on his face.

"You know nothing about love!" Hinata exclaimed as she tried to attack with her **Eighth Trigrams: Air Palm** but was blasted by an unfathomably condensed wave of invisible force that broke three of her ribs and caused a bone fragment to perforate one of her lungs.

The outer god then turned to her with his glowing eyes that burned like dying azure stars at the hour of their culmination. "Very well. You shall see your beloved Naruto once again, ten thousand years from this day. Then we shall see the perdurability of your much vaunted love." He then said in an alluringly penetrating voice that was like the unparalleled elegance of the soft luminescence from long dead stars that travelled in to the vastness of the void and shone its radiance to a fledgling world.

The outer god then outstretched his arm and from his palm casually unleashed a powerful wave of crimson energy that expanded in all directions and washed away everything on the planet's surface and the surrounding space around it, propagating throughout the stretch of the solar system. The potent energy wave nullified chakra itself and atomized every organism and construct that has been touched by chakra, reducing all their matter in to its basic elemental components.

Bereft of chakra that powers and sustains it since time immemorial, the elemental nations shattered and its fragments sunk violently like ingots of lead in to the dark abyss of the harsh ocean. All that remained of its legacy were a handful of survivors that mysteriously found themselves in ships without any memory nor knowledge of the nature of their transport to the said vessels.

The strange ships were built in an alien style, with elongated hulls and delicate woodwork. Without mast nor sails but sliced in to the waters autonomously without any of them able to control its bearing. One of the ships sailed west while the other navigated east and landed in to an archipelago known today as modern Japan.

Hinata, who was aboard on one of these ships saw the remnants of the elemental nations as it crumbled and sunk asunder in to the watery depths along with the prodigious destruction of the moon which imploded then reformed surreally like a dream.

 **-End**

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 **Hey there folks!**

 **Again I apologize for not having been able to update the story for quite some time now as the past few weeks were really hectic for me. Though I hope I could publish new chapters at least twice a month.**

 **So in this chapter I decided to give Naruto a personal summon (besides Kurama) since Mt. Myoboku along with all the toads and other summoning creatures were destroyed by the "cataclysm" that befell the elemental nations. Also, this chapter explains how the latter was destroyed and how Leah became the reincarnation of Hinata.**

 **Currently I'm experimenting on writing style that (hopefully) will induce a full spectrum and a roller-coaster of emotions to you readers. Do please tell me what you guys think about it. Furthermore, I'm planning to bring back Lestat and also Armand on the subsequent chapters but I'm not really sure if it's a good idea so I would like to ask your opinion about it.**

 **Funny story, my cousin is usually my beta-reader. I sent her a copy of this chapter before I published it and her reaction is something worth sharing lol:** _ **"It's a good thing your OP got dumped. That guy is a f******* jerk!"**_

 **Finally, I hope you awesome people enjoyed reading and any comments or suggestions that will help improve the story are always appreciated.**

 **See you next chapter!**

 **Cheerio :)**


	10. Chapter 10: The White Wolf

Azure eyes opened and gazed upon the skies that were clear and blue as if a mirror image of the astral sea, along with the rustling and undulating grass fields which danced in graceful waves from the tender blowing soft breeze. Naruto then found himself laying blissfully on a soft meadow that was perfumed by the sweet smelling wild blooms that riddled the scenery.

He felt the flowing rays of the autumnal sun that bathed his skin with its gold and pleasant warmth, and could almost hear the saccharine melody of nature's mesmerizing song. Everything was profoundly resplendent and supernal, and his senses were gradually set adrift in to a state of heavenly splendor and soul pacifying equanimity.

Surreally, the sun abruptly subsided and like a clockwork celestial calendar in a planetarium the sky dimmed and the bright sunlight was interchanged by the opalesque luminescence of the ashen moon and iridescent glints of the innumerable stars that boldly declared themselves in to the heavens.

Suddenly out of the adjacent forest he saw a magnificent white wolf appear from its depths then gracefully glided towards him, slowly threading its paws in to the firefly lit trail that shimmered mesmerizingly like glittering crystals of sunlight touched snow. He then stretched his hand and felt the soft fur of the magnificent creature who tilted its face in to his palm as if in reciprocation of the affectionate gesture.

The wolf's eyes then widened and with a gush of wind it immediately shed its skin and transformed in to a pulchritudinous woman of unparalleled grace and elegance (and she's naked). Naruto was astounded as the beautiful dame raised her face and he saw someone familiar. It was Hinata Hyuga; staring soulfully at him with her distinctive white eyes and a gentle smile.

"….Hinata?" Naruto stutteringly muttered as he beheld the Hyuga, who's swaying long beautiful ebon hair served as the only cover to her voluptuous body.

Naruto then took of his jacket and used it to cover Hinata's bare physique then hugged her ardently.

"Naruto kun" Hinata replied in a voice that was sweet as the nectar of the mythical lotus tree. Her eyes became lively and her face was filled with imponderable amounts of joy. "Dude wake up!" she then said in a gruff and manly voice.

"Say what now?" Naruto queried in a shocked voice and with a dumbfounded and confused countenance in his face.

"I said make love to me my handsome shinobi!" Hinata said passionately with a gentle smile on her face as she closed her eyes and puckered her lips.

Without a second thought, Naruto took Hinata in his arms and kissed her torridly with the burning white intensity of a thousand suns. As their lips locked, Naruto smoothly slid his tongue in to her mouth and started exploring it and massaging her tongue with his. It was the epiphany of nirvana, Naruto thought.

"What the fuuuuu…." Naruto heard once again the same gruff and manly voice but he decided to ignore it until the said voice became muddled and muffled as if the person of which it belongs to was struggling in vehement protest. He then slickly moved his hand towards her ample bosom but strangely they fell hard to the touch, like the pectoral muscle of a body builder.

The shinobi then heard Rosalie screaming in aghast. Subsequently, Hinata along with the surreal landscape fogged up and disintegrated like a dream. It then turned out that all of it is indeed just a dream, conjured by his forlorn heart that yearned to see Hinata once more. As his senses and volition returned to the waking world however, an extremely awkward if not downright embarrassing scenario greeted him.

Naruto found himself frenching Emmett who was struggling to escape his tight clutch. The latter originally went to his room to wake him up but thinking it was Hinata from his dreams Naruto unwittingly hugged him in an inescapable embrace and unconsciously proceeded to an open mouth tongue kiss, much to the horror of Emmett who tearily and desperately struggled to escape the blondes adamantine grasp but to no avail since Naruto is much stronger than he is.

As Naruto fully realized the uncomfortable scenario he quickly and comically jumped away from Emmett and vice-versa, then both boys screamed in horror as they frantically wiped their tongues with their bare hands in a sad yet comedic manner. As if things weren't bad enough, he then turned to the door and saw the rest of the Cullens with a stunned and dumbfounded expression on their faces. Their jaws where completely slacked and their eyes widened like dinner plates out of shock and disbelief; with Rosalie being the worst affected of them all. The poor girl would've fainted from the traumatic experience if it isn't biologically impossible for a vampire to do so.

"Naruto what the hell!" Rosalie furiously exclaimed in protest as the haze from her mind dissipated.

"What! I'm sorry alright! You know damn well I didn't…I never wanted for that to happen!" Naruto frantically exclaimed back in his defense.

"Why do I feel so molested?" Emmett muttered in a deadpan voice.

"Yeah? Well that makes the both of us!" Naruto then continued.

"Tell that to your boner" Emmett said pointing at Naruto's bulge. He knew that it was indeed an accident but decided to squeeze some fun out of the awkward situation anyway to get even to his blonde sibling's constant wisecracking pranks.

"That's not for you ya'know!" Naruto hysterically yelled.

"Now I feel molested and then rejected." Emmett said glumly followed by a false sigh. At the back of his head however he was laughing out loud from Naruto who've just gone completely hysterical and quite nearly paranoid from the profound embarrassment. He then felt a bit of fear himself as he looked over his shoulder and saw Rosalie's penetrating angry glare directed towards both Naruto and him.

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(Forks High School)

" _Well, I suppose I'm still lucky that this day proceeded surprisingly well despite that fiasco earlier."_ Naruto thought as he was answering a trigonometry problem on the board while the rest of the girls in the room were blushing red for they were so enamored by his good looks.

Then the bell rang and it was lunch. The same girls hovered around Naruto like flies as he walked towards the school cafeteria. He saw his siblings on their usual table along with Bella who sat with Edward.

"Hey guys what's up!" Naruto greeted them jovially and exuberantly. He would've teased Edward but given the situation that occurred earlier he opted not to.

As he turned his gaze in to the old table were Bella used to sit he saw Mike and Alex conversing about an unpleasant subject that probably involves Edward and his relationship with Bella. _"Looks like Tweedleperve and Tweedledork has something in mind. I wonder what pathetic nonsense they're up to now."_ He then thought as he looked incredulously at the pair of boys with a deadpan expression on his face.

Based from his observation, Naruto concluded that Mike Newton is one of those jealous-pervert type and for some twisted reason he could relate to him in a degree, being once a pervert himself and competed for the affection of a girl against a guy that everyone think was much cooler. Then there is Alex Storm which he and the rest of the Cullen's were suspicious about. He never really forgotten nor forgave the young man's remark towards him being a 'solid belieber', though there was more to it than that. Unlike his other siblings, Naruto didn't think that Alex was a vampire. He however never really liked him for some reason he couldn't comprehend. The shinobi also speculates that the naïve and merry demeanor of the latter is just a façade that veiled his more calculating and dangerous nature.

Naruto then surreptitiously observed the two and read their lips as they conversed with each other.

"You know what's the first thing I did when I found out that Bella is dating that freak Cullen?" Mike said indignantly in a gruff voice.

"You charged weary and alone back to your room, then touched yourself all day in false hopes that everything will change for the better as you relieved yourself while you glumly fondled with that picture of Bella you stole, that doesn't even do her justice." Alex said in a dry tone and nearly monotonous voice.

"What? No! You creep!" Mike vehemently denied his friend's assessment but at the back of his head he was anxious and edgy for it was accurate down to the last detail.

"If you say so friend" Alex then replied tranquilly in the same perfunctory and desultory tone, and disinterested voice without looking back to Mike for his somewhat stoic and low-spirited stare was fixed on Bella and Edward.

"What…what even makes you come up with that kind of sick assumption?" Mike curiously queried Alex with regards to his earlier statement, retaining the outraged rouse in his voice.

"Just a hunch" Alex then said with a cheeky smile on his face as he turned his attention to Mike.

" _Ok that was actually funny"_ Naruto thought, sniggering. "Though on the other hand, those two losers are so pathetic that even I can't help but feel a bit sorry for them." He then muttered inaudibly as he slowly shook his head.

"Scanning for cute boys?" Rosalie scoffed and at the same time teased Naruto.

"Oh come on Rosalie! We already talked about this ya' know!" Naruto exasperatedly exclaimed that made everyone on the table snigger in amusement, especially Alice and Jasper.

"Those two are actually really nice once you get to know them. If you want I can hook you up with either one of them." Bella quipped, trying to suppress a smirk but wasn't able to hold it for long.

"Ahh not you too Bella" Naruto sighed then gloomily sulked in a corner.

"He'll get along with Newton just fine since both of them are closet perverts. Come to think of it, same goes with that weirdo Storm….you affectionately referred to him as 'pretty boy and stud muffin' more than once. Right?" Edward bantered with a smile playing at the edge of his lip.

"Look who's talking….at least I don't break in to other people's house and watch them while they sleep. How twisted is that for your discriminating taste." Naruto retorted, crossing his arms and childishly muttered in a voice that was too faint for Bella to hear but was perfectly audible to the rest of the Cullens which made them snicker.

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(Later That Day)

At the luxuriant and lichen wreathed forests that surrounded the edge of Forks, in a dell where the golden rays of the autumnal sun penetrated the looming canopies of towering trees there stood a magnificent large white wolf. It was panting; catching its breath for not too long ago it just eluded its pursuers who were urgently trying to project their thoughts in to its mind, endeavoring to calm it down.

Suddenly, the wolf heard the thoughts of its persuers as they tried to locate it and so the beast ran, sprinting in speeds that would've left a sports car dead in the dust, only stopping when it was absolutely certain that the others are too far behind to catch up.

As this fateful chase took place, Naruto was deep in the forest doing his best to unwind from the dreary day, lying blissfully at the soft grass of a viridian glade where the sweet smelling flowers of autumn sporadically bloom in lush abundance.

Suddenly the shinobi felt a strange and oddly familiar presence as he took notice the rustling of bushes. Then from the myrtle shaded shrub sprang a white wolf similar to the one he saw in his dream the night before.

For a moment Naruto was stunned by its majesty for it was an amazing creature to behold; with fur akin to that of freshly fallen snow and regal magnificence possessed only by nature's noblest of creations.

" _A Quileute shape shifter huh. I haven't seen one of them for quite some time now."_ Naruto deducted the nature of the creature as it cautiously walked amidst the coniferous yews and red cedar trees, heading towards his direction, sniffing his scent and discerning if he is either friend or foe.

Naruto then extended his hand to show that he meant it no harm but the wolf misinterpreted the gesture and fall back to a defensive stance, growling fiercely at him.

"Okay easy. I'm not going to hurt you" Naruto said gently in reassurance but it hasn't quelled the beast's rage so he decided to cast a genjutsu to calm it down.

" **Nehan Shōja no Jutsu** " Naruto exclaimed as he folded his hands in to a tiger seal.

Suddenly the wolf beheld a shower of white illusory feathers. Its eyes began to get heavy and drowsy as the soft falling plumes fluttered and began to pile up. The Quileute shape-shifter tried to resist the hypnotic spell but to no avail, the desire to sleep was instinctive and there was no fighting it. Eventually, it succumbed to the Eden like bliss of the jutsu and inexorably fell in to a tranquil slumber.

Naruto was then dumbfounded as the wolf started to collapse and revert in to its human form, transforming back in to a beautiful woman; and not just any woman, it was someone he knew.

"Leah?" Naruto gaspingly muttered as he quickly caught her in his arms and gazed upon her face. The shinobi then felt something he can't explain deep within every fiber of his being, like a bright and warm flame that has been reignited after centuries of long musty inertness. An element of vague but compelling disquietude has now mingled with his curiosity as he held in his arms the naked Quileute dame, of whom he felt a special significance, a concern that was incomprehensively personal and intimate.

Then in a moment of reeling and whirling confusion, it seemed to him that sometime or somewhere he knew and loved her, though it was beyond the capacity of his cognizance to remember when or where.

Then through his six-paths sage power Naruto opted to peer inside of Leah's mind. He knew well that aside from being in proximity with a vampire, extreme emotional distress was also an efficacious catalyst to initiate a shape-shifter's transformation in to his wolf form.

Naruto felt a bit of shame for desecrating the privacy of someone else's mind but as a shinobi of the hidden leaf he was tempered to extract intel any way necessary, also he was thrilled with a strange excitement from a feeling of some momentous revelation he couldn't fully comprehend.

Surreally, a peculiar hallucination seized Naruto as he examined the memories of Leah. He beheld how the latter's lingering suspicion from her sudden breakup with Sam culminated in to an extremely painful realization as one day she saw her trusted cousin in the arms of the man she loved, and still love. She felt betrayed, unloved and inadequate. This pain focused itself inwardly in to a maelstrom of unbearable emotional torment and projected itself outwardly, changing her physical form.

Suddenly, Leah's body started shaking as if afflicted by a violent convulsion. Her bones painfully broke then grew afresh, refitting itself over a new animalistic frame as she changed in to her wolf form. Her mind then ran amok from the sensory overload as her newly enhanced senses took her by surprise.

A terrible perturbation possessed her, her very sense of identity and humanity was troubled, she was adrift in a sea of stormy confusion, of disoriented thoughts and amplified painful memories. The feral rage grew as if a feeble flame that fed itself in secret from all the torment and pain was now a great conflagration that consumes everything in its path.

Then it would seem that all the agony, confusion and anger found a focal point as her piercing glare caught the image of Emily. With mindless rage she attacked her cousin implacably, clawing her face with feral wrath, nearly killing her too if it weren't for Sam who instantly phased in to his wolf form and grappled her while simultaneously using his alpha voice to calm her down.

The cloud of rage in Leah's mind abruptly subsided like an ebbing tide and she beheld her horrified cousin with half of her face badly wounded from the clawing she recieved. Leah was then filled with confounding lamentation and remorse. Shocked from what she had done she decided to ran away, running as fast as she could out of shame and regret.

(Carver Café)

Mike and Alex usually hangout at Carver Café every Wednesday after school, for they know that Bella and Charlie eat out their dinner on that restaurant, on that particular day, every week.

The two boys waited patiently but Bella nor Charlie didn't come that day and it frustrated them. Their woe was further exacerbated when they found out from Angela that Edward took Bella to meet his family. Evidently the anguish quickly converted itself in to a jealousy fueled wrath that especially afflicted Mike, making him wish all sorts of misfortune towards Edward and the rest of the Cullens.

"Argh I hope Cullen fall of a cliff or something!" Mike annoyingly exclaimed in rebuke of the romance between Bella and Edward.

"So you want him disposed now?" Alex queried with a somewhat evil look in his eyes.

"If only that's possible" Mike sighed, crossing his arms and looking away.

"You know, there is a way." Alex said in shady voice while grinning cunningly like a demon.

"What do you mean?" Mike asked with a perplexed expression on his face.

"My family has made its modern day fortune through the development and sale of advanced military technologies since the middle ages…and being the primary heir, I have access to the most cutting edge of such technologies." He said in an astute voice akin to that of a seasoned businessman as he took off his necklace from which hanged a small kite shaped pendant etched with the coat of arms of House d'Sanguinus. At the back of which was a biometric scanner where the young man placed his right thumb; activating a hidden mechanism that caused the dexter and sinister sides of the pendant to split, revealing itself to be a high-tech looking device of some sort with a red disc-like button in the middle.

"What's that?" Mike again inquired in both wonderment and a bit of trepidation.

"Well, you see….the uhm 'dinner' the Cullens had last week was laced with a complement of a powerful nanotech-explosive one of our scientists developed a few years back. The devices should've settled well in their intestinal tracks by now and upon detonation would turn Edward and his family inside out. This transmitter is the interface to initiate the said process with but a push of a button." Alex explained in the same shrewd manner while the crooked grin on his face noticeably widened. "So what will it be my friend…." He then continued but was cut-off when Mike suddenly grabbed the transmitter from his hand and unflinchingly pressed the button without any hesitation.

To Mike's surprise however, the device released a small yet powerful electrical shock that made him jump from his seat like a startled cat. "What the heck dude! That hurt like hell!" He then hissed, lividly.

"Well, serve you right. You're my friend and I will help you as much as I could but I will never help you in such a way; for even contemplating of such an underhanded approach to secure your objective is appalling and unacceptable. A man of honor should always consider scrupulousness and decency above all else and endeavor to do the right and proper, even if disadvantaged, even if the odds are stacked up against you; for even if subdued by a superior force you could still stand tall and proudly say that you did your best and although you may have lost today, you will gloriously rise from the ashes tomorrow and continue to fight; for your integrity and fortitude still remained uncorroded and uncompromised." Alex said in a sagacious voice as he sipped some soda. "You must always fight fair you know." He then continued.

"Dude…I couldn't even begin to say how outlandish that was. Who are you, Spartacus?" Mike smirked as he brushed off his friend's advice.

"I do realize that the statement was slightly out of touch with the contemporary milieu but you know as well as I do that it is the indisputable truth." Alex replied calmly though there is just enough tremble in his voice to hint that he's starting to get irritated.

"Slightly?" Mike said with a creased brow then chuckled. _"Well I like the nano-bomb idea better…..if such a thing is even real. I think he just pulled it off from that cheap scifi show he loves watching."_ He then thought while looking incredulously at Alex.

"You're probably wondering if such a device does really exist or I just made it all up….Yes, they are real" Alex said coldly in a blasé voice.

" _Oh great, now he's inside my head again. What is he telepathic or something?"_ Mike thought in annoyance. "So why don't we put some of it on a certain someone's drink? huh? Will you help me out here Alex?" he then playfully urged with a maniacal yet comedic grin on his face.

"Well that's an interesting notion in itself but still no."

"Why not?"

"You mean aside from the obvious fact that it's not a very nice thing to do." Alex replied in a pleasant voice as he tried to reason with his friend. "Plus, I'm not gon'na throw away ten million dollars for such a childish endeavor?" He then muttered surreptitiously to himself.

"You greedy hypocrite…I know you want him gone too, your just too cheap and don't want to spend a bit more on the process." Mike said frankly, pointing a finger of suspicion that made Alex froze in embarrassment and felt as if a thousand arrows had struck him in the rear end.

"Hey don't judge me!" Alex exasperatedly exclaimed in a comedic chibi like outburst.

"Yeah, it's kinda hard not to." Mike shrugged with a nonchalant voice and with a deadpan expression on his face.

Amidst their discussion Mike noticed Alex looking at the transparent glass wall of the diner, in to the deep forest with a faraway blank stare as if something has abruptly distracted him; this, along with the latter's immediate demeanor which was unsettlingly stern and taciturn has prompted his concern.

As Mike perused more closely, he noticed Alex's left hand that was currently holding a fork, his forefinger however was moving in wavering and flickering motions as if drawing some enigmatic symbol in to the air of which by reasons yet obscured has suddenly became frigid as polar ice and electrifying as if in close proximity to a colossal van de Graaff generator.

"Dude, is there something wrong?" Mike then inquired.

"Nothing, a few minor complications but on the whole everything's fine….just fine." Alex replied with a fox like smile emanating from his face and a cunning, sardonic gleam in his iridescent sapphire blue eyes, like that of a prankster who just victoriously pulled a mischievous prank. He then clenched his fist and abruptly raised it like a boxer doing an uppercut and chuckled in a somewhat sadistic tone. "That would teach him to keep his hands for himself." He then murmured inaudibly.

"You're really weird. You Know that?" Mike said while eyeing Alex suspiciously, thinking that the latter has just came up with some grand scheme to take Bella for himself.

"Yeah. That's why we're friends. It's our common denominator." Alex said in a monotonous voice with a deadpan expression on his face as he looked incredulously back to Mike.

"That and our mutual dislike for a certain ginger named Edward Cullen." Mike said as he raised his cup and made toast with Alex who concurred with every word he said.

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(Cullen's Residence)

"This is incredible. It's so light and open, you know?" Bella commented as she ingresses the Cullen's abode. She was expecting at a dark Transylvanian styled castle like those in the movies or at least some gothic ambiance but instead saw a fairly modern house with postmodern interior design, complete with transparent glass walls from which south side was a picturesque view of the Calawah River.

"What did you expect, coffins and dungeons and moats?" Edward replied, smiling.

"No, not the moats" Bella said, chuckling.

"Not the moats." Edward echoed, chuckling as well. "This is the one place we don't have to hide." He then continued as they climb up the stairs to the kitchen where Bella could hear opera music playing along with some sort of cooking show on TV.

In the kitchen which was located on the second floor of the house. Carlisle, Esme and Emmett decided to go the extra mile and prepare something for Bella, while Rosalie was standing near the counter, somewhat irritated.

"Is she even Italian?" Rosalie inquired with an air of annoyance in her voice.

"Her name is Bella." Emmett replied while chopping some radish for the salad.

"I'm sure she'll love it, no matter what." Carlisle supplemented.

"Get a whiff of that" Rosalie exasperatedly sighed "Here comes the human" She then continued with a sarcastic and singsong tone while everyone aside from her was excited to see their guest.

A few moments thereafter Edward and Bella walked inside the kitchen where Esme warmly greeted them. "Bella, we're making Italiano for you." She then said eagerly.

"Bella, this is Esme. My mother for all intents and purposes." Edward introduced Esme to Bella while behind her were three person, there was Emmett who looked very friendly and waved amicably at them with a knife in his hand; Rosalie who looked at her coldly; and Carlisle who was her attending physician during that truck incident a couple of months ago.

"Buongiorno" Bella nervously greeted them. Technically she said good morning in Italian though it was already late in the afternoon by that time. Also, she can't help but wonder where Alice, Jasper and Naruto were.

"Molte Bene."Esme replied, smiling kindly. _"Well that answered Rosalie's earlier question. She's not Italian."_ She then thought.

"You've given us an excuse to use the kitchen for the first time." Carlisle said, smiling gently. "Usually Naruto is the only one who uses this part of the house." He then chuckled.

"Yeah. What's up with him anyway? Its ramen this ramen that, it's so annoying he doesn't even need to eat." Rosalie scoffed.

A confounded expression emanated on Bella's face after hearing it as she has no idea what Rosalie's was talking about, nor could she relate on the subject.

"He absorbs energy from nature so he doesn't really need to eat anything. He just does it for reasons known only to him." Edward whisphered to Bella as Rosalie continued to whine.

"Now now Rosalie, you know it upsets Naruto whenever someone talks ill of ramen….speaking of him; does anyone knows where he is?" Carlisle reproached her gently but realized that indeed he hasn't seen Naruto since the blonde left for school earlier.

"Who cares where that idiot is!" Rosalie sneered as she reminisce the untoward incident earlier. Even slightly recollecting the minutest of its detail flared her temper. She then glared at Emmett who in turn just awkwardly looked away in hopes that she'd be much calmer when he looked back.

"I hope you're hungry." Esme then said to Bella in a hopeful voice, partly in effort to change the subject.

"Yeah. Absolutely." Bella lied as she didn't want their hard work to go to waste.

"She already ate." Edward said out of honesty but came out a bit callous and it earned him a glare from Bella.

Suddenly they heard the sound of breaking glass reverberate throughout the kitchen and as they perused its source they beheld in pieces the salad bowl Rosalie was holding earlier. Apparently she vented her earlier frustration and dislike of Bella on the unfortunate bowl and its contents. She then stepped over the shards of broken glass and looked at Bella and Edward fiercely.

"Perfect" Rosalie said sarcastically while Emmett went over to her and tried to calm her down.

"Yeah… it's just because I know that you guys don't eat." Bella stuttered as she tried to explain herself and defuse the situation before it gets even more volatile.

"Of course." Esme interrupted to prevent Bella from feeling more awkward than she already does. "It's very considerate of you." She then turned to Rosalie and gave her a look of disapproval.

"Just ignore Rosalie. I do." Edward said.

"Yeah. Let's just keep pretending like this isn't dangerous for all of us." Rosalie retorted with a voice of ever increasing intensity as she failed to control her anger.

"I would never tell anybody anything." Bella reassured them as earnestly as she could.

"She knows that." Carlisle said level headedly, easing her nerves.

"Yeah, well, the problem is, you two have gone public now, so..." Emmett said, trying to explain Rosalie's vexation to all though he was hesitant to even finish his sentence as Esme silently called his name in reprimand.

"No, she should know. The entire family will be implicated if this ends badly." Rosalie continued what Emmett has restrained himself to further utter.

"Badly, as in...I would become the meal." Bella said, gawking. She again began to feel a bit of fear and concern. The statement however made the Cullen's snicker and even Rosalie seemed to be suppressing a laugh.

"Hi Bella." A cheerful and sweet voice then said that made Bella turn to the balcony and saw Alice along with Jasper. "I'm Alice" She then introduced herself as she walked over and hugged Bella. "Oh. You do smell good." She commented that made Edward's eyebrows furrow.

"Alice, what are you..." Edward inquired with an awkward expression in his face along with a creased brow but was cutoff.

"It's okay. Bella and I are gon'na be great friends." Alice then assured him as she already saw it on her visions.

"Sorry, Jasper's our newest vegetarian. It's a little difficult for him." Carlisle said.

"Pleasure to meet you." Jasper said politely, inordinately restraining himself to give in to his vampiric instincts.

"It's okay, Jasper. " Alice said, smiling "You won't hurt her." She then tried to assure everyone but it came out quite different and once again the awkward expression on Edward's face was priceless.

"All right, I'm gon'na take you on a tour of the rest of the house." Edward then told Bella and walked away with her but turned one last time to his family and rolled his eyes at them, though he was thankful that Naruto wasn't there lest it would be far much awkward, not to mention embarrassing as he was absolutely certain that the blonde won't be able to resist teasing him.

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Finally, away from the presence of the prying coven members, Bella and Edward then felt their passion reignite. Under the music of Clair de Lune their eyes once again locked and their souls about to converge.

"Bella" Edward said ardently in a velvety voice as he held Bella's hands gently and kissed it.

It made Bella blush slightly, it mesmerized her and she was captivated and enthralled in to dreamlike equanimity, drawing her ever so closer to his lips like a powerful current to a helpless ship. Verily, it would seem that everything is perfect and that day was made for the tryst of lovers.

Out of sudden, a small stone the size of a golf ball seemingly shot itself out nowhere and hit Edward in the temple with such force that it nearly knocked him out. Wrath quickly became the predominant emotion as he recovered from the daze.

"Who's there!" Edward lividly demanded to know the identity of the one who pelted him maliciously. At first he thought that Naruto was responisble but realized that though the blonde can be annoying at times he would never do such a thing.

With his vampiric speed he then quickly moved a considerable distance from his room and in to the river banks that was abundant with clustering boulders as he deducted that such a place would be the likely origins of the projectile that callously struck him.

The azure sky then suddenly turned dun and ominous. In the midst of which, the sun was clearly visible and it was burning like a great crimson ember. Then something even stranger occurred, the rocks and boulders on the riverbanks levitated and was hurled to Edward which he was able to avoid flawlessly.

"Is that all you got?" Edward exclaimed. As if challenging the invisible entities that were flinging these boulders at him.

Then, as if response, the piano resting on the living room at the second floor of the Cullen's house was dragooned towards Edward with incredible speeds that he wasn't able to avoid it, crashing upon impact with a loud crunch as the vampire was sandwiched amidst it and a large rock.

Owing to the sturdiness of a vampire's physiology; the injuries Edward sustained wasn't fatal but it was indeed extremely agonizing that everyone saw how the former came out of the creaking wreck with an unmistakable expression of pain in his face.

"Edward what happened?" Esme maternally inquired with a mix of both perturbation and cautiousness in her voice.

"I don't know… someo….." Edward stutteringly muttered in a barely audible mumble but was cutoff when suddenly an awfully potent invisible kinetic punch slammed itself in to his nether regions like a sledge hammer with a force akin to that of an angry elephant's kick, nearly crushing the family jewels in its wake.

"Edward! Edward what happened? Are you ok?" Bella gaspingly and frantically inquired as she ran towards him as fast as she could.

Edward however couldn't utter any word in reply, only a droning groan as he held his crotch from the unfathomably immense pain that made Emmett and Jasper cringe.

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Meanwhile back in the forest, a few hours has passed. Leah finally awakens from her blissful sleep and beheld the saffron rays of the thickening twilight. Then as she looked around she noticed some folded clothes besides her to wear and the varsity leather jacket that covered her body from the elements.

"Naruto" She muttered, smiling gently as she caught his scent on the jacket with her newly amplified olfactory sense and remembered that he was the last thing she saw before strangely falling in to an Elysian torpor.

Leaning at the back of a large oak tree was Naruto. For reason he couldn't really understand he decided to conceal himself behind the great tree as he noticed that Leah was about to wake up. He was never really shy when it comes to girls but it was somewhat a different case this time. He was sweating, his heart was pounding and beating irrepressibly, and butterflies fluttered inside his stomach. He then put on his monster headphones and decided to play some tunes to ease his nerves but whether it is by anxiety induced clumsiness or by fates clever design, his phone fell from his hand and the headphone connector pulled out from its socket causing the former device to play the song in its full volume for Leah to hear.

" _ **Here we go, come with me**_

 _ **There's a world out there that we should see**_

 _ **Take my hand, close your eyes**_

 _ **With you right here, I'm a rocketeer**_

 _ **Let's fly (fly,fly,fly,fly)**_

 _ **Up, up here we go, go"**_

The song was Rocketeer by Far East Movement, and as it played both of their hearts connected as if they were beating in sync with each other and Naruto felt a love for Leah that was the same he felt thousands of years ago for Hinata.

"Thank you Naruto." Leah said as she closed her eyes and tears raced to her face out of happiness for at that very moment, and though unintentional, Naruto made her forget the agony that burdened her so much and at the same time made her realize her self-worth.

" **Go get her kid"** Kurama said in encouragement. The fox was grinning, genuinely happy for his jinchuriki.

The gentle rays of the setting sun shined on to the maiden who was once again filled with hope as she sat on the autumn perfumed grass while the noble yet unseen hero watched vigilantly like a silent sentinel behind the shadows until the right time has come for him to reveal himself and profess his love. It was indeed a splendorous and heartwarming scene; and if ever a painter would skillfully render the image on canvas, it would be a masterpiece.

 **End**

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 **AN: Hey there Folks!**

 **You guys may have noticed that this chapter is a bit on the lighter side compared to the previous ones.**

 **Romantic scenes isn't really my forte and I'm not really very good at writing them, though I tried my best and give it a shot.**

 **I hope you awesome people enjoyed reading this chapter and as always, any suggestions and comments that will help improve that story is always welcomed.**

 **See you next chapter.**

 **Cheerio!**


	11. Chapter 11: Severed Dreams

The twilight skies were painted with the vivid shades of gold and crimson that rivaled the finest of imperial tapestries in its aesthetic splendor and breathtaking magnificence. In the woodlands that bordered the cloudy town of Forks, amidst the glade where the dappled shadows of the clustered trees whose leaves were reddened by the changing season and by the ember like luminescence of the autumnal sun is where Naruto and Leah were.

Awkwardly anticipating and perusing each other in silence not only with their superhumanly enhanced senses but also with the perdurable and mysterious bond of their linked hearts that withstood the stormy centuries and the passing of innumerable mundane lifespans.

"You can come out now Naruto. Why are you hiding anyway?" Leah broke the silence.

"Are you fully dressed yet?" Naruto replied awkwardly behind the broad trunk of a great oak, subtly reminding her that she's still in her birthday suit. It was indeed strange; his time dampened perverted tendencies seemed to have been subdued completely and was supplanted by a chivalrous demeanor that was ordinarily uncharacteristic of the shinobi.

Leah blushed, realizing she's still naked. She then took the clothes on the ground and wore them as swiftly as she could. "Ok, I'm…..presentable?" She said, awkwardly and a bit embarrassed.

Suddenly Naruto was filled with a foreboding apprehension as the seal in his right arm glowed faintly like dying embers, signifying only one ominous warning that forced itself in to his attention.

After his altercation with Rlim Shaikorth, the shinobi opted to covertly place sensor seals in each of his coven members that were tethered to the main seal on his arm; acting as an extension to his senses and alerting him whenever any of them are in peril.

"Leah, you'll be alright here by yourself, right?" Naruto anxiously inquired in a worrisome voice that confounded her.

"Yeeahhh?" Leah said in a tone that reflected the confusion brewing in her mind. It was more of a question than a reply, stretching the word in an elongated cadence.

"Good to hear…I have to go now, there's an emergency back home." Naruto said in a serious tone as he revealed himself to Leah for but a fleeting moment then **Hiraishined** from the forest back to their house.

"What just happened?" Leah bemusedly muttered to herself as she slowly stood up and found out that Naruto was gone without any trace. Suddenly her heart began to beat in a quickened pace. At the ephemeral moment that she beheld Naruto being bathed by the intense saffron rays of the autumnal twilight she felt a warm sensation deep within him that she couldn't explain nor comprehend completely; as if the shinobi suddenly became the center of her universe and all other things became secondary or irrelevant. A strange yearning and wanting then ensues within her like an intensely burning flame fueled by the sudden unleash of unbridled passion. She then felt an odd but spiritual sensation or emotion that she could only surmise as love. She wanted to be with him and touch him, and become his protector; as if all the colors of the world slowly fades in to gray for each and every passing moment that the shinobi is not on her side.

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(Cullen's Residence)

"Oh my god! Edward what happened?" Bella screamed frantically as she saw Edward lying on the ground with his hands on his crotch and groaning in pain.

Suddenly out of thin air Naruto materialized like a stray thought that has been given flesh and form. "What's going on here?" He demanded to know in a strict voice.

"Someone's attacking us!" Jasper growled frantically turning his gaze in all directions, trying to locate the invisible attacker's position.

"Take Bella to safety. Hide…all of you!" Naruto commanded in a stern tone while his piercing eyes scanned the vicinity but couldn't find anything beyond the ordinary. He was certain however that the enigmatic person or entity that attacked them before is the same one responsible for Edward's painful predicament.

"Time to go Bella" Emmett said as he grabbed Bella by the waste and zoomed inside of their house as per Naruto's injunction. Jasper did the same to Edward and followed thereafter along with the rest of the Cullens who deemed it best and conformed without question. The moment they saw the mirthless and piercing expression on the shinobi's eyes they instantly knew that the situation is indeed grave and was nothing to sneeze about.

"What's happening?" Bella questioned with a firm voice but no one responded to her inquiry for they all seemed to be anxious and some like Rosalie and Esme were downright terrified for reasons they themselves were uncertain of.

Suddenly, Edward convulsed and screamed in pain as if pure and undiluted agony arced and resonated in to every cell in his system akin to being continuously struck by bolts of lightning unrelentingly without his earthly body expiring from the eldritch fulmination's accumulated destructive intensity; and he felt in all his tissues the painful pulsing of the thunderous and reverberating fulguration that was greatly amplified by its dark and unearthly nature.

Everyone was ineffably horrified but out of sudden, the pain seemed to cease entirely as Bella was just about to reach the limits of what she's could endure from witnessing the horror of Edward' tortuous quandary.

With what left of his former strength, Edward inordinately stood slowly as if his body was made of lead. His muscles were still aching from the ordeal but the pain is now much more tolerable than it was just moments ago.

"Are you ok Edward?" Carlisle inquired with both concern and unease in his voice as he helped him stand up.

"Yes" Edward replied in a weakened and tired voice. "What happened?" He then inquired, not remembering anything save for the numbing agony. His consciousness was momentarily blotted by the immense pain of the all-out sensory assault he was just barely able to endure.

For a fleeting moment, an ominous stillness was predominant in the air that was tersely broken as the wooden portals of the house abruptly swayed open in a creaking monotone and they saw Naruto in its threshold. The expression on his face was grave and stern, like a general who just came from the battlefields and witnessed an overwhelming scenery of death and carnage.

"Whoever or whatever did this to you is long gone now." Naruto said to Edward with a voice that while serious in a manner, was more relaxed than it was moments ago. "Sorry to drag you in to this kind of mess Bella." He then turned to Bella and spoke in a pleasant and reassuring voice.

"No problem….?" Bella said with a confused cadence in her voice, extremely perplexed and have no idea of how to reply.

"What happened?" Jasper inquired

"I'm not sure but this…this could be bad." Naruto said with worrying seriousness in his voice, as if implying that the attack isn't the first nor the last of its kind.

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(Gym Class – The Next Day)

"Looks like Cullen's a bit more miserable than usual." Mike commented to both Eric and Alex with a sardonic grin and in the most deriding and mocking manner he was capable of dishing out as he saw Edward and Naruto with mirthless and weighty expression on their faces.

"Maybe things didn't go well yesterday." Eric speculated in a genuinely concerned manner; thinking that Bella's meet up with the Cullens didn't go so well.

"Yes…that's good" Mike muttered as he grinned cunningly, while sinisterly rubbing his palms together like a villain who just saw an opportunity to hatch his diabolical scheme.

"I suppose they're just a little bit out of tune." Alex shrugged as he smirked cheekily.

"What do you mean….?" Eric asked but as he turned his head to Alex's direction he saw that young man was no longer standing beside him but was strangely able to cross the other end of the gym at seemingly imperceptible speeds, and without anyone noticing it. "Whoa…what just happened?" He scratched his head, mystified and confounded.

"How the hell did he do that?" Mike muttered in puzzling astonishment melded with a bit of inkling on how such a seemingly unearthly feet was achieved.

Adjacent to the team bench area of the gymnasium, a good distance away from Mike and Eric is where Bella, Jessica and Angela were, with the latter two giggling like mischievous fairies, pumping the former for more detail regarding the dinner with the Cullens.

"That's actually it. There's nothing really out of the ordinary." Bella lied; her voice was quivering as she spoke. She did try her best to fabricate a convincing premise but Jessica and Angela was able to discern the irregularities in her anecdote, along with the odd quavering in her voice, and became a bit suspicious that she was somewhat hiding something from them.

"Come on Bella, we won't tell." Angela practically begged with puppy dog eyes that almost tempted Bella to tell her the truth.

"Yeah, don't be stingy on the details." Jessica supplemented excitedly, giggling.

But before Bella could utter another word he saw Alex abruptly appear behind the two girls, flashing a dazzling friendly smile. "Hey what's up!" He then greeted them in the same jovial and cheerful manner he usually sport.

"Hey" Bella responded "Why aren't you at biology class earlier?" She then followed up with a curious inquiry while Angela and Jessica just taciturnly blushed as they and the other girls in the vicinity contentedly ogled Alex whose handsome face and imperious charms was only amplified by the gym uniform that fit him snugly, emphasizing his well-built body, their eyes alight with the red lust of sensual desire and intoxicating elation for the young man was indeed aesthetically pleasing to look at and his mesmeric presence triggered an ecstasy of primal and unbound euphoria to flow in to their veins, captivating their essences in to a state of supernal splendor and astral serenity.

"I wasn't feeling very well." Alex replied awkwardly, scratching the bridge of his nose.

"You know….you do realize that you scratch your nose every time you lie. Right?" Bella said with an incredulous look and a smile playing at the edge of her lip. " _But I have to admit, he's kinda cute when he do that."_ She then thought.

"What…..I….I have never….I must say I'm a bit offended by that statement." Alex stutteringly said before he and Bella burst in to a gentle and light hearted chuckle.

"Is he bothering you?" Edward suddenly burst in to the background with Naruto like lightning from a cloudless sky and assertively queried in a serious tone.

"Scoot boy." Naruto scoffed as he dismissed and eyed the young man quite darkly with a somewhat smug grin on his face.

"Well, I have to get going now….see you later Bella." Alex said sheepishly with a timid smile as he stood aside and tremulously walked away like a mouse that came face to face with the cat, giving the illusion of a sniveling coward. The pride of a dark god within him however was transgressed by their impudence and the later was but contemplating the most unpleasant way of casting them in to a sea of eternal torment. _"Both of you are so dead! In time I will tear you apart atom by atom."_ He then irately thought, clenching his fist tightly.

"Why do you two always bully him?" Bella reproached both Edward and Naruto with her brows furrowed.

"He's not what he appears to be. Stay away from him." Edward said under his breath though still faintly audible.

"I agree. He might be far more good looking than your emotic boyfriend over here but trust me on this one Bella, you don't really want to be associated with that guy." Naruto concurred albeit in a more lighthearted and quipping tone that made Edward role his eyes out of exasperation. "I wonder what girls see in him anyway; surely they don't want to date a guy with hair prettier than theirs. Right? He then hummed contemplatively then cracked at his own witticism.

"I don't understand." Bella said with a stumped expression on her face. Her confusion then quickly converted itself in to a curiosity that was bound to uncover the truth between the two factions hostility toward each other.

"Maybe you would if you stop looking at his ass for a second." Edward quietly susurrated, stating Bella's guilty little pleasure that made Naruto smirk out of amusement.

"What?" Bella queried, hearing Edward murmur something but was out of earshot to be intelligible

"Nothing" Edward replied with a hint of jealousy on his voice, his teeth subtly grinding at each other.

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(Clearwater's Residence)

Sue was assuaged to see Leah in a better mood and much calmer disposition. Her daughter didn't took the break up with Sam all too well and it triggered the latter to phase in her wolf form, causing even more complications.

She was quite surprised however when Leah came home to their house earlier that day, clad in what looks like a leather varsity jacket that the latter, for reasons yet obscured was quite fond of. She saw that Leah was tranquil and seemed to be genuinely happy though she tried to hide it from everyone.

"Here drink something hot." Sue said maternally, handing Leah a cup of hot cocoa.

"Thanks" Leah said in a gentle voice that was somewhat uncharacteristic of her.

"Are you alright" Sue then asked, confused.

"I'm fine mom."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes"

"Well, I'm glad to hear that." Sue said as she hugged Leah who the latter held her hands in return.

It was indeed a heartwarming seen between mother and daughter but out of sudden the moment was severed like a pleasant dream dissolving like foam and with one's volition forcibly expelled back in to the harsh clutches of reality as a solemn knocking on the door echoed portentously at the entirety of their abode.

Sue opened the door and saw Charlie with a grief stricken expression on his face. "Charlie what happened? Where's Harry?" She then inquired with a trembling in her voice. Intuitively, she knew that something bad happened though she prayed she was wrong.

"Sue I don't know…I don't know how to tell you this." Charlie said in a quivering voice. "Harry" he then continued but was seemingly hesitant to utter another word.

"What happened? Tell me what happened!" Sue demanded. A strange chill ran down her spine and her composure dwindled little by little like a piece of silver slowly being corroded and eaten by acid.

"He's…..He's gone Sue. He had a heart attack while we were in the forest investigating a report about a….." Charlie gathered all his faculties to enunciate every word of the dreadful news with as much decency as he could but wasn't able to as he saw Sue and Leah burst in to tears. "I'm sorry…I really am…." He then muttered solemnly, trying to assuage their anguish as much as he could but he too was overcomed by the soul crushing dejection and can't help but despond silently from losing another friend who was like a brother to him.

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Seth was just on the way home from an errand when he saw Charlie's cruiser parked in front of their house, as he stride closer he beheld his mother and sister in a state of piteous sorrow. He saw Sue almost kneeling on the floor out of despair while Leah was hugging her tightly; along with Charlie who was trying to allay their pain despite being grief stricken himself.

Knowing that something bad might have happened, Seth nervously ran as fast as he could towards them. "Mom what happened?" He then nervously perused.

With great pain Sue told him that his father is dead. Seth was lost for words as he peered at her mother with confusion and unbelief but it didn't took long before he realized that indeed Harry is gone forever; sick at heart with the doom that impended his father, the dreadful news penetrated him with a pain that was almost unbearable and insurmountable. Tears fell from his eyes like cascading streams of melancholy.

He then felt something ignite deep within his core like a great flame fueled by his dejection and sorrow with its heat becoming intolerable by the second. He then felt an involuntary trembling that was soon worsening in to an inexorable and uncontrollable seizure. The maelstrom of intense emotions gripped him and out of fear and confusion he sprinted away as fast as he could.

"Seth wait!" Charlie tried to stop him.

"It's ok. We must give him some time to grieve on his own way." Sue said, placing her hand on Charlie's shoulder. She knew that the emotional shock would unavoidably catalyze her son's phasing and though still grief stricken she quickly devised a subterfuge to prevent Charlie from following Seth, lest the former would be accidentally injured or killed as the latter still couldn't control his new power and is practically feral at the early stages of phasing.

As Seth ran he noticed that the swiftness of his pace became far faster than what he was able to achieve in the past. Soon his muscles convulsed irrepressibly and he stumbled and toppled uncontrollably in to the grassy slopes of the immediate meadow from the momentum of his acceleration.

As he fell flat on the ground, he felt his bones painfully break in to pieces and grow anew with inhuman rapidity. He then felt his body changing, his senses sharpening beyond the scope of any human or animal that he was able to hear the heartbeat of a fox beneath its lair hundreds of feet from his location and caught its scent vividly.

"Seth" He then heard a voice.

He tried to utter a reply but his new wolf physiology made it anatomically impossible to form words. Confounded, he swung his head in every direction to try and locate the origins of the voice. He then saw a pack of wolves that was as hefty as bears, staring at him as if he was one of theirs.

"Don't be afraid Seth." The largest wolf which appears to be the leader of the pack telepathically conveyed to him. Its fur was black as night and along with dagger like incisors and golden eyes made it very menacing to behold. "We're here to help you. Just relax." It then once again communicated.

"What are you?" Seth confoundedly queried.

The black wolf, along with the rest of the pack then shifted back in to their human forms and Seth saw that they were also boys from the tribe like him, albeit they were a few years older than he is. Eventually they were able to calm him down and through their guidance he was able to take a measure of control and shift back in to his human form.

Phased amidst the lacunae of the mainstream reality and the super-mundane dimensions underlying it are three looming figures observing their every action, along those of other mortals that caught their enigmatic interest and anticipate how things unfurl.

"Interesting" The first being said in an eerie echoing voice, amused.

"Interesting indeed" The second being commented in a sensual tone.

"What now my master?" The third inquired the first. His voice was that of a teen boy but the manner of how he spoke reflected a sophistication stemming from centuries of existence.

"Now we enjoy the moment of relative tranquility for sooner or later things will spiral down in to utter entropy….and when such time comes to culmination….well, let's just say we'll have an abundance of scandalous amusements." The first replied with a demonic grin emanating from his unseen face. "Isn't that so my new friend?" He then said in a voice that was hollow and metallic as he's glowing azure yes gazed in to the empty void.

Suddenly a fourth and more mysterious being formed itself out of nothingness; its eyes then snapped open revealing pitch black irides embedded with blood red pinwheel like patterns.

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(Port Angeles)

Days have passed since Harry's funeral. For neither reasons she couldn't comprehend nor fathom Leah found herself in the ramen bar where she first met Naruto as she walked around the tourist trap town to assuage her grief.

Then the image of the strapping shinobi flashed in to her mind. Her longing for Naruto was just partially elapsed by the turpitude of her father's passing but now her yearning for him has returned and was ever more potent like an advancing tide slowly engulfing the sands of an ashen shore.

She remembered how the blonde's jokes and even mere presence could make her smile and bring her unfathomable joy and bliss of contentment that her heart and soul desired more than anything. "I can't believe I'm saying this but I wish that idiot is here right now." She then muttered.

"Who are you calling an idiot?" A somewhat obstreperous voice exclaimed that made Leah turn around and see Naruto behind her, his hands nonchalantly clenched behind his back while flashing a wide friendly smile. "Wait, are you stalking me?" Naruto quipped that made Leah chuckle with a bit of annoyance.

"Wow…you're so full of it aren't you?" Leah then replied sarcastically with a crooked smile on her face.

"Just trying to make you smile ya' know." Naruto smirked.

"Thanks. I really need that right now." Leah said in a somewhat somber voice as she tried to smile.

"I'm really sorry about your dad." Naruto consoled her in a solemn voice.

"How did you know about that?" Leah inquired, surprised. She was then stunned as she glimpsed deeply towards Naruto and wasn't able to remove her gaze from his mesmerizing azure eyes.

"It's a small town after all. Plus, I read it on the paper the other day." Naruto explained to her.

"I see." Leah said, shaken off from her earlier trance like state. Her voice suddenly became more somber, reflecting the reemerging pain.

"Tell you what….why don't we go get some ramen, on me." Naruto offered amicably with a dazzling white smile as he saw Leah's sudden dejection.

"Suuuure" Leah said awkwardly in reply to the relatively eccentric blonde. Her head was a bit tilted and there was an expression of partial confusion in her face as the gloom was suddenly interchanged with unexplainable happiness.

Naruto ordered miso ramen as it was his favorite while Leah had the Asashikawa style one, a relatively new addition to the menu. Apparently, both the shinobi and the Quileute shape shifter were avid connoisseurs of the delectable Japanese dish and they enjoyed every bit of it.

As the ramen's heavenly aroma and supernal flavor touched and caressed their senses it would seem that all of the troubles and pains that plagued them were sponged away as they both enjoyed the experience and the company of each other. It is a strange thing indeed, but a much welcomed serendipity.

"Uhmm..Naruto?" Leah queried hesitantly.

"Yeah?" Naruto said, turning his attention to her.

"Can I ask you something?" Leah mumbled, putting her chopsticks down.

"Okay?" Naruto gulped. _"I wonder what it is."_ He then thought.

"Back at the forest a few days ago…you know, when you found me unconscious." Leah muttered, uncertain if she should continue.

"Yeah what about it?" Naruto said as he nervously raised his bowl and slurped the remaining broth and soba noodles.

"How much of my terra incognita did you see?" She then inquired with a low whispering voice and in an awkward intonation.

Flummoxed by the uncomfortably delicate question, Naruto froze, he was lost for words and couldn't utter any reply. Worst still, he felt a choking sensation and realized that he was literally drowning from the ramen broth uncontrollably pouring down his throat; soon partial apnea kicked in that made him involuntarily and instinctively spat the ramen in a comical manner.

"Are you ok?" Leah inquired, shocked from seeing the hot ramen come out of the blonde's mouth like a bursting stream.

Naruto was about to speak when he heard another inquiry. "Yeah. Are you alright?" Naruto then slowly turned his head and saw the chef who was dripping wet with ramen broth and a few strands of soba noodles hanged from his face. "Something wrong with the ramen sir?" the latter then inquired again with a deadpan expression on his face.

"Oh…I'm so sorry about that." Naruto said hilariously while Leah couldn't help but laugh at the awkward scenario.

Maybe because of the chuckle worthy awkwardness from the earlier situation Naruto and Leah parted ways with genuine smiles of happiness emanating from both their faces. That awkward day was indeed something to be remembered for unofficially it was their first date.

It would seem that all the problems that have plagued them in the past disappeared like an abruptly thinning vapor, and in its stead came a serendipitous exaltation; and both of then wished that the happiness would linger on, forever.

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(Forks High School – The Next Day)

The bell just rang and it's lunch; students slowly emerged from their individual class rooms like a flowing stream and undividedly walked as they chat with each other on their way to the school cafeteria.

Like a shadow, Naruto surreptitiously lurked at the school corridors, unseen and impalpable to the senses of other students; biding for a perfect opportunity to confront Alex. _"I know he's not an ordinary human…that is if he's even human at all."_ He then thought grimly.

"You are right about that." Kurama interjected "That kid is something else." He then continued, followed by a deep guttural growl of suspicion.

"Of course I'm right!" Naruto boisterously exclaimed to the fox that made the latter role his eyes out of annoyance. "But what do you mean when you said that he is something else?" Naruto queried back.

"As you know I have the ability to sense people's emotions, especially the negative ones. But when it comes to him…nothing…it's like staring in to an empty void." Kurama explained in a voice that was ponderingly hollow.

"I know. I tried to read his mind once, it didn't go so well." Naruto said as he ruminate the agonizing ordeal which felt very similar to the pain from a certain unpleasant experience in his life that he couldn't remember somehow.

At last Naruto spotted his target as the young man egresses out of the classroom door. Superficially, the latter seemed to walk casually, unaware of the looming confrontation he's about to encounter. This was not the case however as the latter's cosmic awareness perused the shinobi's intention and he decided to play along, finding it amusing.

Naruto expanded the scope of his **Tōton Jutsu** to encompass Alex then dragged the latter inside the janitor's closet 'to have a little chat' with him.

"What on earth do you think you're doing?" Alex said in an outrage voice. Pretending to demand an explanation for his sudden abduction.

"Shut up or I'll kill you where you stand." Naruto hissed in a calm but deathly serious tone, glaring fiercely at the young man.

"Hey wait, you're Nachos...right?" Alex said, jovially pointing his index finger at the shinobi.

"It's Naruto." The shinobi corrected unflinchingly with the same mirthless expression on his face.

"Nart-O? Sounds like a brand of orange juice." Alex hummed. His head was slightly tilted and there's a perplexed countenance on his face.

"He's as insufferably stupid as you are." Kurama sniffed inside of Naruto's head in a deadpan tone.

At that moment Naruto lost his temper along with all of his composure. "It's Naruto you dumbass! NA-RU-TO! If you get that wrong again pretty boy I will kick your ass so hard, I'm gon'na create a vagina! Believe it!" He then comically exclaimed out of exasperation, enunciating every syllable like he was talking to a mentally handicapped person.

"Ah Naruto was it? ….like the Japanese fish cake?" Alex then inquired again out of seemingly innocent wonderment.

"Yes…like the Japanese fish cake." Naruto scoffed mockingly, grinding his teeth together out of annoyance. "You have a problem with that?" He then sneered. His eyes narrowing on the young man; expecting the latter to say something stupid before he proceed to give him a bone shattering punch in the face.

"On the contrary, I like it, really." Alex said tranquilly and with a gentle smile on his face. "I think a unique name has its own charm….makes you more interesting…it adds a certain je ne sais quoi."

"Really?" Naruto inquired, surprised. He wasn't really expecting any kind of praise.

"Yeah" Alex reassured him with a wide and friendly smile.

"You really think so? cause people think my name is kinda wie…hey wait a minute. I know what you're doing…you're honeypotting me aren't you." Naruto said, he was initially glad to have found what he thought to be a kindred spirit but the expression on his face suddenly turned sour and his suspicious demeanor towards Alex suddenly flared up as he realized that the young man was just duping him.

"Why Naruto…what do you mean?" Alex shrugged. There's a strange cadence in his voice as if holding back a chuckle but is about to reach his limits, barely able to keep up a straight face.

"Oh he got you kid. Guess between the two of you, you're the bigger idiot." Kurama smirked.

"I'm glad you're enjoying this." Naruto sarcastically muttered back to Kurama.

"Are you ok dude? You're kinda talking to yourself." Alex inquired, awkwardly.

Naruto then grabbed Alex by the collar then slammed him forcibly in to the wall. "Don't play games with me Alex….if that's even your real name. I don't think you're even human?" Naruto hissed mirthlessly.

"I'm as human as you are." Alex said cryptically, with a crooked grin on his face.

The reply puzzled the shinobi for technically he isn't human anymore; and though he never acknowledged it, for all intents and purposes he transcended in to a god when he became the **Juubi's** vessel. "I'll only say this once. If you ever do anything stupid in my town…well, why spoil the surprise. But I assure you, it would be extremely unpleasant." He then threatened in a foreboding tone and with a piercing glare that was more than adequate to cow even the most battle hardened warrior.

Naruto was however flabbergasted to see that the young man's sardonic smile widened in to a rather unsettling demonic grin. "What's so damn funny?" He then roared, pressing the young man harder until the wall behind him started to crack.

"Do forgive my levity…Naruto…but if you come to know me better you will learn that such paltry act of bravado is irrelevant to me." Alex smirked indifferently then started to laugh at his warning.

Naruto was about to silence the young man with a well-placed blow but oddly slipped and tumbled over him. As if things can't get any worse, some of the student, including his siblings and Bella, overheard the noise coming inside of the janitor's closet and decided to investigate the strange clamor. They were all stumped however as they opened the door and saw Naruto and Alex in an ambiguously sensual position, with the latter's shirt partially ripped and was being pinned by the former on the floor as if the two were passionately making love.

"Hah! I knew it!" Emmett exclaimed, breaking the silence among the continuously growing slack jawed crowd.

"This not what it looks like!" Naruto reacted hysterically in a comical manner.

"I'm sorry. He said he will stop bullying me if I give in to his demands." Alex muttered for everyone to hear, as if a victim that has been gravely coerced.

"What he's lying!" Naruto frantically retorted in protest. "Why you deceitful little bastard I'll destroy you!" He then turned his attention to the young man and comically wringed his neck with his bare hands then placed him in a head lock.

"Naruto stop it! What do you think you're doing?" Bella exclaimed as he pulled the shinobi by the ear and dragged him outside.

"Oww…Bella wait, can't you see this guy …oww….he's evil!…can't anyone of you see what he's doing here!" Naruto protested hilariously as he is the only one who can see Alex smiling flatteringly and trollishly waving at him while he (Naruto) was being painfully hauled by Bella on the ear.

The crowd was in shock and a bit scandalized as they could only see a traumatized and shaking young man instead of the trickster that Naruto was vehemently pointing out for the dark god used his divine power to alter the perception of everyone in the vicinity, save for the blond, clouding their very concept of reality and saw what he wanted them to see instead of the truth.

"You're a bad boy aren't you?" Lestat telepathically communicated as he observed everything, phased amidst the dimensional planes underlying the main reality; an ability among many others that was vouchsafed to him by his master.

"Yes…it brings me so much unconscionable amounts of joy." Alex smirked smugly. Like the cat that got the cream.

"You know he's going to retaliate." Lestat warned in a somewhat anxious voice.

"I'm aware of that…the expression on his face, have you seen it? So intense, so sure of himself….completely unaware that at best his efforts will just be a minor annoyance and would inexorably rebound back at him with desolating consequences and more pathetic after-effect…but nonetheless it would be foolish not to have any contingency…..Oh I could almost see the endless spectrum of amusement we're going to have in the very near future my friend." Alex then said complacently as he laughed in a frighteningly sadistic manner.

It made Lestat cringe for it was uncanny, knowing the deity's notions about humanity and the fact that the species only continue to thrive as long as it unwittingly serve his strange and capricious amusements. At the very core of his being, he has dimly hoped that Naruto would be able to banish his master at the final culmination of it all.

"I can sense a bit of dissatisfaction in you." Alex then turned his attention to his minion.

"No, I'm fine with it all." Lestat lied for fear of what would befall him if he speaks his mind.

Alex chuckled to his reply, while his eyes glowed azure. "Nothing goes in the skulls of lesser beings that can be hidden from me Lestat. It is the nature of an immortal's mind. Nothing mundane can obstruct my vision, walls are transparent to me and darkness is daylight. You have nothing to fear my friend, for my intention to the entirety of the human race is well, though it doesn't look like it on the surface." He then reassured in a hypnotic voice that seemed to sponge away all of Lestat's anxieties and be replaced with an unexplainable calmness.

 **End**

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 **Hey there folks!**

 **Sorry I wasn't able to update the story for the longest time. I was in a business trip these past few weeks and boy was it hectic, I literally have to type each component of this chapter after meetings then piece them together during my flight back home lol.**

 **This chapter expounds mainly on Leah and Naruto, and their blossoming relationship. Also, there is the first confrontation between Naruto and Alex but I opted not to make it violent but rather full of veiled threats towards each other and a few awkward moments.**

 **Oh and there will some fight scenes on the subsequent chapters but won't involve Alex too much for reasons I will explain later.**

 **Anyways, I hope you awesome people enjoyed reading and as always any comments and suggestions that would help improve the story is always welcomed.**

 **Cheerio :)**


	12. Chapter 12: The Underling

Time has progressed swiftly like whizzing clouds. For days the incident that occurred in the janitor's closet has sparked much scandal and controversy at Forks High School, and has become the primary subject of jokes and quips inside the Cullen's household, much to the displeasure of Naruto. Thing's eventually went from bad to worse when he found out that someone actually took a picture of the awkward scenario and made it in to a meme with the phrase bellow saying: 'Forks just got a lot hotter today'. No longer able to endure it, Naruto decided to erase and alter the memories of all those who witnessed his predicament by virtue of a powerful wide-area compulsion genjutsu.

The only people who seemingly have knowledge of what had occurred was Bella, of whose mind was impervious to genjutsu and other powers that bend the psyche; and Leah, which Naruto decided to entrust the relatively embarrassing secret in detail not only to seek counsel and comfort for he knew that the shape shifter wouldn't judge him so hastily unlike everyone else, but also to warn her about Alex, of which was a friend of Jacob and Seth.

"I really hate that guy!" Naruto madly exclaimed, throwing a flat rock in to the river which skipped unremittingly until it reached the other end.

"Don't think of it too much." Leah said in gentle voice. Somehow, she found it a bit weird for it was something Sue would say to calm her down whenever her temper flares.

"Yeah, you're right." Naruto sighed.

Suddenly Naruto felt something lurking on the forest. Out of the rustling bushes a pack of dire wolves emerged. Leah quickly shifted in to a defensive stance, ready to phase at any moment's notice.

There were nine of them, all growling fiercely at the shinobi and baring their dagger like fangs as a warning to him that they will attack if he won't leave immediately.

"Leah what are you doing with him!" Sam admonished harshly via telepathy.

"I love him." Leah answered unflinchingly.

"You are betraying the tribe!" Sam roared "Why can't you love someone else!" He then continued fiercely.

Leah was stunned for a second before he regained back her senses and answered him back. "Why? I'll tell you why. Because he loved me at my worst Sam...and you had me at my best, yet you chose to break my heart." She then continued in a slightly quivering voice that reflected the loneliness she endured from her break up with Sam and the bone shearing pain she felt when she found out his relationship with Emily.

Her words have taken Sam aback and he wasn't able to speak for the longest time. "I'm sorry Leah. I've hurt you." he said in a heartfelt and wobbly voice. "But this is more to it than that." He continued, regaining back his pragmatic seriousness and pack leader demeanor that puts the tribe's wellbeing above all else.

"Leave" Leah sneered firmly.

This forced Sam to reveal what really happened to Harry. Leah saw how a group of nomadic vampires prompted Harry to have a cardiac arrest when he and Charlie were at the forest, investigating the series of murders lately.

He and the other Quileute shape shifters, including Seth, inordinately kept it a secret to Leah out of fear that she would do something stupid if she was ever to find out. Given her hot headedness; rage might replace logic and it can be her own fatal undoing.

The dreadful revelation devastated Leah but she remained calm and tranquil, and didn't submit to feral rage, much to the surprise of Sam and his pack.

"I always thought that you guys were hiding something from me." She said looking at the sandy colored wolf on particular, which was his brother Set. She however couldn't blame him since her brother was compelled to follow his Alpha whether he likes it or not.

"Leah, it is one of his kind that caused Dad to suffer a heart attack." Seth said, trying to convince her.

"His family is different…he's different. You know that." Leah retorted.

"They are all the same! They are monsters….blood and murder sustains their wretched existence!" Sam growled. "Let's go!" He then commanded Leah using his Alpha voice.

However to their surprise Leah was able to resist the Alpha voice, albeit with great difficulty and strain, signifying only one thing.

"You imprinted on him? …a vampire?" Sam said in a hollow voice. Finding it impossible to believe that one of their own has imprinted on a creature that was an enemy of the tribe.

"Uhmm…excuse me. I'm not really a vampire ya' know." Naruto interjected.

While initially shocked that he was able to penetrate their telepathic link, Sam and the rest of his pack just sneered and then decided to leave as it is forbidden for a shape shifter to kill the imprinted one of another.

"So you can read minds now?" Leah asked with furrowed brows when she was certain that the other shape shifters were gone.

"Sometimes" Naruto replied nonchalantly. "I also know for a fact that you think I'm a stud." He then supplemented with a cheeky smile on his face.

"Oh brother" Kurama said, face-palming himself then shaking his head in disbelief.

"Don't push it" Leah replied with a blank expression on his face.

Naruto chuckled while his face blushed a little from knowing that the affection was mutual. "Come on. Let's get some ramen. My treat." He then said jovially, placing his arms around Leah.

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(Port Angeles)

"Welcome to our ….!" The chef jubilantly said but his greeting was cut in a sharply broken cadence as he beheld Naruto. _"Oh great, it's him."_ He then thought with an etched deadpan expression on his face. While it is an indisputable fact that Naruto is his best customer, the awkward accidents caused by the blonde's antics is steadily taking its toll on his health and he is being torn apart whether to relinquish his best customer and lose profit or retain him at his own risk.

"Hey there I'll have a big bowl of….." Naruto ecstatically said but was cutoff.

"Miso ramen with extra noodles and extra slice of pork. Right?" The chef sighed.

"You know your stuff my good man." Naruto said jovially.

"I'll have the same." Leah said, smiling. Before her first phasing she couldn't even finish a bowl half that size but now it seemed that she could go for two. "'Excuse me I'll just go to the lady's room." She then said.

"That girl you're always with? Your girlfriend?" The chef curiously nosed in a rustling hushed voice.

Out of shock, Naruto involuntarily spat the water he's drinking in to the chef's face like a bursting fountain. "Oh! I'm so sorry about that." He then awkwardly and comically apologized.

"Yeah, I figured this would happen. Don't worry about it…. I suppose, I'm kinda used to that." The chef said with a blank expression on his face. "So? Is she your girlfriend?" He then continued the prying inquiry as he wiped his face with a towel.

Naruto scanned in all directions to make sure Leah's not around. "Yes" He said in a low voice with a sly foxlike smile emanating from his face.

"Woooord!" The chef exclaimed as the two high fived each other. "Know what? Order as much as you like, it's on the house." He then continued.

The jovial disposition of the chef reminded Naruto of Teuchi and Ayame way back in the hidden leaf village. Naruto's eyes then lit up with joy that was almost divine and unparalleled. For him the words 'ramen' and 'free' when combined is synonymous to heaven. "Oh…thank you, thank you, thank you!" He then said out loud ecstatically like a child on his first trip to Disneyland.

"No problem kid." Said the chef with a thumbs up and a wide paternal smile.

"Is there something I missed?" Leah who just came out of the rest room awkwardly inquired with a deadpan expression on her face seeing the not so common touchy scene, complete with sparkly background and all.

Despite that weird situation their date turned out exceptionally well and both of them enjoyed each other's company that time passed by quite swiftly. It would seem that only minutes past by but in truth they've been leisurely talking to each other for hours.

The day couldn't be more perfect for Naruto. He was with Leah and just ate multiple servings of the best ramen in town for free but it would seem that the day couldn't get any better. As they walked in to the many shop streets of the tourist trap town the shinobi noticed something familiar; it was a black 2009 Porsche Carrera-GT.

"Hey Naruto. Are you listening?" Leah inquired. She was saying something to Naruto earlier but it would seem that something is distracting him.

"What?" Naruto replied, dazed.

"I said…do you mind if we check out this shop before we go back to Forks?" Leah then said, pointing at a cozy little shop selling various trinkets.

"Yeah sure." Naruto smiled, scratching the back of his head. "You know what? You go ahead Leah, I'll follow soon."

"Ok" Leah said, raising a brow. She then went inside the shop, albeit hesitantly for there is something in the blonde's voice that that spells mischief and it made her suspicious.

When he was certain Leah was inside and no longer watching, Naruto then set his sight on the sports car in front of him. From its license plate, the shinobi was able to peruse its owner. "It's payback time pretty boy….this is gon'na be sweet!" He said with an air of mischief in his voice as he deviously rubbed his palms together and a fox like grin emanated from his face.

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(Bella's House)

Bella was anxious; her natural inquisitiveness of the unnatural and the supernatural seemed to be her Achilles heel.

As she musingly sat down on her bed she saw her phone lying on the desk. For a long interim she stared at the device then decided to place someone a call to assuage the curiosity that deeply burned within her. Her thirst for the truth has become almost unbearable for she couldn't get over what Edward and Naruto said the other day at gym class.

"Oh hey there Bella." Alex said jovially on the other side of the phone.

"Hey Alex we need to talk. Can you meet me at Carver Café today?" Bella then said in a somewhat serious tone.

"Unfortunately I'm not in town at the moment. Is this about our biology project? Alex inquired "Don't worry about that, it's good to go. I can send you my other half of our project through email if you want to check it out." He then continued, reassuring Bella.

"No it's not about that." Bella then said with a solemn voice.

"Okay?" Alex replied. There's an awkward cadence in his voice.

"You see there's something bugging me?" Bella said in a ponderous tone.

"Yeah?" Alex inquired, seemingly confounded.

"What's your beef with the Cullens? And what does Edward mean when he told me that you're not who you appears to be?" Bella queried pryingly.

"Beats me." Alex shrugged nonchalantly.

"You know you could trust me, right? Please tell me the truth." Bella said, trying to convince him to spill the beans.

"The truth?...well, if you've noticed the sudden spike in birthrate this week…that's because valentines was nine months ago." Alex said in a seemingly innocent voice, trying to grab a random trivia to diverge from the real topic.

"Not that kind of truth." Bella retorted in a voice that reflected her sudden exasperation.

"I have to go Bella. I'll call you later." Alex said abruptly then cut the call. There's a strange noise in the background, like a starting jet engine.

Bella sighed just as the call ended, knowing that she couldn't really get any proper answer from both sides. Her determination however didn't falter from the strangeness of it all; on the contrary it just fueled her suspicion that something is amiss.

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(Bella's Room – Later that Day)

"So how's the baseball stuff going?" Bella inquired Renée over the phone.

"Aw, Phil's working so hard…you know, spring training." Renée answered affectionately, seemingly touched that Bella was asking about her husband. "We're looking for a house to rent in case things become more permanent. You'd like Jacksonville baby." She then continued.

"Yeah….I'm kinda liking forks." Bella hesitated at first but was finally able to say what she really felt, though she couldn't believe she was able to say it out loud.

"What?" Renée said in a voice that sounded just as shocked. She thought that Bella was just playing a joke but then realized that she was serious about staying in Forks.

"Forks is growing on me." Bella said genuinely in a calm voice. She could hear the laugher in her mother's voice which was a natural response from hearing her say something like that.

"Could a guy have something to do with that?" She then perused, maternally.

Bella laughed nervously and stuttered. "Yeah" She then decided to finally admit the truth.

"I knew it! Tell me everything. What is he a jock? I bet he's smart…is he smart? Renée said in a voice that was a bit too excited. It would seem that her breathing became erratic and she was more like a gossip hungry friend than a mother.

Bella was then startled as she turned her head around and saw Edward sitting beside her. "Uhm…mom, can I talk to you later." She stutteringly said, flummoxed.

"Come on, we got to talk about boys. Are you being safe?" Renée tried to appeal like a nosey teenage girl before the call was cut.

"How did you get in here?" Bella inquired to Edward, confused.

"The window." Edward smiled.

"Do you do that a lot?" Bella queried again with brow raised this time.

"Just the last couple of months." Edward admitted. "I like watching you sleep…it kinda fascinates me." He knew that telling the truth would spark a bit of awkwardness between them but nonetheless opted to be completely honest with her. Much to his surprise however when he saw Bella smile after hearing him say it.

Bella felt something she couldn't explain as her eyes locked with Edward's . She felt a sublime bliss, as if time slowed down and she could hear the sound of her own heartbeat that suddenly quickened at a faster pace.

"I just want to try one thing." Edward said as he gazed soulfully at Bella. "Stay very still." He then moved slowly and carefully, leaning towards her.

As they get closer and closer to each other both could have sworn to hear a faint objection, like that of a hidden spectator that bitterly resent their flourishing love but couldn't do anything about it but grouse out of frustration and sigh in despair. However, neither Edward nor Bella paid any attention to this for it seemed that all things outside them suddenly became irrelevant and insubstantial as their lips met.

As they kissed Bella moved closer to Edward and kissed him more torridly. Their bodies are now much closer together, with Bella slightly above Edward as she gently moved her hands to his back, caressing his neck then passionately run her fingers on his bronze hair.

A that moment it would seem that the disapproving observer was devastated, his mouth was gaped and gasping in a comical manner, and his teary eyes were as big as dinner plates from the disbelief and shock of seeing them on the verge of making love.

"Stop!" Edward suddenly exclaimed as he leapt away from the bed with an agility that could've put a tiger to shame.

"I'm sorry" Bella apologized for nearly making Edward lost control.

"I'm stronger than I thought." Edward muttered.

"Yeah, I wish I could say the same." Bella said awkwardly that made Edward look away.

"I can't ever lose control over you Bella." Edward said, seemingly in great pain.

"Hey don't go." Bella pleaded earnestly.

Hearing her imploration Edward couldn't possibly leave. He then gathered all his fortitude and walked toward to Bella's direction. There was an intervening moment of awkward silence but then they once again started to talk to each other, first about ordinary and relatively common things but later on they were able to confidently share their secrets with each other.

Both found each other's company pleasant as if one completes the other and vice versa. It was a moment of perfect happiness one might say; bliss in its purest and most potent form, such as one would experience in the surreal rapture of a wonderful dream.

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(Storm Ancestral Manor – Cardiff, UK)

"Get up. Our master summons's you." Armand said coldly to a shrouded figure in front of him, reflecting his resentment and bitterness to his master's newest and favorite minion; a position he formerly enjoyed.

The said underling revealed himself to be a tall and strapping young lad, possessing pale skin and black eyes, along a spiky raven hair with blue tints that hung over his face as bangs. He silently rose from his meditation then turned his back on Armand, walking silently towards the garden at the mansion's western zone where Alex was.

"Arrogant runt." Armand scoffed as his colleague passed by him stoically, not saying a word. _"I don't understand why master even resurrected the likes of him on the first place."_ He then thought begrudgingly.

With steady strides the new comer ingresses the indoor gardens where exotic botanical underbrush flourished luxuriantly. On the largest of the numerous man made ponds, at the center of two adjoining bridges, stood a water gazebo where he saw the dark deity reading a strange looking book.

"You have asked for me, my lord." He then announced his presence with a respectful but cold voice.

"My new friend. How are you?" Alex said amicably. "Ah, where are my manners….slave! There are cups that need to be filled here." He then called in an exigent and imperious voice.

Suddenly, out of the gloom a hobbling skeleton appeared wielding a crystal decanter on its fleshless hands. It was swathed in tattered and worm eaten clothes resembling the uniforms worn by the ninjas of the Allied Shinobi Forces during the Fourth Shinobi World War. On its head were withered locks of hair that was once a beautiful lively bright pink like the flowers of a cherry blossom tree. Eyes like flickering marsh-fires burned in its deep eye-sockets; and a blackened tongue like that of a long-dead person protruded between its teeth; but otherwise it was clean of flesh, and the bones glittered whitely from the sunlight passing through the semi-transparent canopy of the edifice.

Like the underling before it, the skeleton too was brought back by Alex from the purlieus of the dead but saw little utility in it thus the outer-god deemed not to bestow any further enhancements to serve its menial purpose.

As if in a calamitous mockery of its former mortal life, the skeleton heard and saw and felt with a similitude of the senses that it had possessed before death; but its mind was enthralled by a dreadful spell and recalled but dimly its former existence; and the state to which it had been summoned was empty and troublous and shadow-like.

The skeleton then did what it was commanded like a soulless automaton and one by one poured generous amounts of blood red vintage on the crystal wine goblets atop a nearby odd looking cedar table.

"Thank you Sakura. You may go now." Alex said flatteringly, dismissing the macabre servant. "To the success of your undertaking." He then turned his attention to his minion and handed him one of the wine filled goblet for a toast.

"Master, forgive me for asking but ever since you've awakened me in to this new world…I have neither memory nor recollection of what I was in the past, of my former life before I died." The minion inquired with strange solemnity and in a hollow voice.

"I'm sure this is very confusing to you but fear not my friend for your questions shall have answers in due course." Alex said reassuringly. "But at the moment I have something special for you, a gift if you will." He then diverged from the current topic.

Alex then opened his outstretched hand which was gradually engulfed in an eerie iridescent aura of fiery bluish-white energy; and from his palms materialized a fairly long chokutō with onyx black hilt and a matching scabbard. It was wrought from a silvery unearthly metal that was tempered from the fires of a dying star by the dark god himself, and its edge was honed to the thickness of a single atom. The strange blade was engraved with unspeakable death spells and lethal runes from which powerful arcane energies flow, emanating as a shimmering cerulean glow when viewed by mortal eyes.

The sword in reality however is the physical manifestation of a pocket dimension where Alex had the sage of six paths imprisoned in its fold. The deity, through the use of his illimitable power and higher understanding of the universe then shaped the pocket dimension in to a hypergeometric blade that was designed to vibrate across many dimensional states and at the same time phase in and out of the space-time continuum; granting it the power to effortlessly slice asunder anything that came in contact with its unforgiving edge, be it matter or energy.

"Take it. It will serve you well on your….mission." Alex said in an amicable voice but his eyes reflected the cunning of an entity that lived the passing of uncountable eons. "There is this guy named Edward Cullen. I have tried many times to reason with him to stay away from my Bella but his intransigence has been stretching the limits of my leniency lately…..bring me his head." He then commanded with a demonic grin emanating from his face.

"Ordinarily I would deal with him myself but due to a recently mitigating divine edict of Yog-Sothoth...my father...I have to limit my intercession with mortal affairs, albeit temporarily; until the passing of the multiversal convergence." Alex then continued tranquilly though the underling could detect the subtle loathing in his voice. "Go now. Show him what happens to a mouse that so foolishly challenged a cat…though take heed not to hurt Bella in any way….Oh and one more thing. You'll likely encounter a blonde named Naruto. He can be quite persuasive, don't believe anything he says. Furthermore, avoid any conflict with him as much as possible but if he should interfere with your mission, destroy him."

"As you wish lord Errealth." The underling concurred as he took the sword with both hands and disappeared like a shadow in the dark of night.

"Well this is gon'na be interesting" Alex said with a wide demonic grin as he returned his attention to the book he was reading earlier. "Darn it….lost my place." He then said with a deadpan expression on his face, no longer able to find the page he was perusing in particular.

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(Cullen's House)

Gray clouds blanketed the town of Forks though it has not brought rain in its fold, a relatively agreeable weather by the standards of the wet town.

It was Bella's second time to visit the Cullen's and the situation seemed to be much better than the previous one. As usual, Carlisle and Esme were really wonderful hosts but what she found most surprising was Rosalie. The latter, while not completely cordial with her, isn't downright surly or abrasive. She also noticed something strange with Naruto, he seemed to be uncannily exultant this past few days and an ineffaceable smile was etched on his face.

"You look happy" Bella smilingly said to the shinobi.

"Is it that obvious?" Naruto inquired, a bit embarrassed.

"Yes!" Everyone in the house answered concurrently with monotonous voices.

"Maybe too happy…it's weird and it's bothering us." Rosalie scoffed.

"And there's the ice queen we all love to hear run her mouth." Naruto quipped that made everyone laugh save Rosalie who gave him an angry glare.

"Mind telling us what you're so happy about?" Esme teasingly asked, smiling.

"Nothing. I just remembered something funny that's all." Naruto lied, though the awkwardness his voice made the others suspicious.

"Are you sure?" Edward said with a smile playing at the edge of his lip.

"Can we change the topic already?" Naruto frowned, crossing his arms.

"So, Bella how's your father?" Carlisle inquired in a gentle voice.

"He's a little upset but he'll be alright, I think." Bella said, shaking her head.

"What happened?" Carlisle followed up with another question, concerned.

"Some kids kinda vandalized his new car while he was at Port Angeles the other day." Bella sighed.

"Say what now? ….did you say new car?" Naruto said awkwardly while an ominous chill ran through his spine.

"Yeah. Alex sold Charlie his Porsche in an unbelievably cheap price, last week." Bella explained.

"Whaaaaaaaaat!" Naruto exclaimed frantically. His jaws fell wide agape from the embarrassing shock as he remembered what he did to the said car a few days ago.

"It's a shame really. Charlie couldn't believe it either, he really loved that car. He took it to Port Angeles the other day to get some stuff for the truck but as he walked out of the store he saw that someone spray painted it…..it kinda looks like an extra spotty Dalmatian now." Bella then continued. She was rather stumped as she doesn't really know what to make of the unfortunate but ironically funny predicament.

"Ooooh Noooooo!" Naruto once again exclaimed. The shock, confusion and bits of guilt then melded in to a singular and comedic facial expression. "I…I have to go." He then said hysterically as he **Hiraishined**.

"Naruto wait." Carlisle said but it was already too late as Naruto already vanished.

"Okay that happened" Japser said sarcastically with a blank expression on his face.

"What just happened?" Bella stutteringly queried in a confounded voice.

"Naruto can like teleport from place to place." Emmett tried to explain.

"I think what she meant is what's wrong with him." Jasper deducted while Alice just giggled for she knew what happened exactly but opted not to speak.

"You mean aside from the usual? Who knows?" Emmett shrugged.

"This is confusing." Bella muttered under her breath; confounded by the utter strangeness of it all.

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(The Next Day)

Bella made her way to the kitchen to under the premise of getting something to drink but she found Charlie on the table drinking beer and cleaning his gun. "Hey got you another one." She said handing him another beer from the fridge.

"Thanks" Charlie said. Bella's timing was perfect as his can was already running law and just thinking of getting another one.

"I got a date with Edward Cullen." Bella then blurted out.

Charlie paused for a second. "He's a little old for you isn't he?" he then asked.

"No, uhm…he's a junior I'm a junior. I thought you like the Cullens?" Bella said, trying to convince Charlie by justifying her date with Edward.

"I thought you didn't like any of the boys in town." Charlie said followed by a much needed sip of beer.

"Edward doesn't live in town, technically." Bella said awkwardly "He's right outside." She then continued.

"He is?" Charlie paused for the second time, and this time in a longer interim.

"Yeah, he wanted to meet you officially." Bella said in a hopeful voice.

"Alright. Bring him in." Charlie said as he cocked his gun like an old west sheriff about to carry out a death sentence.

It startled and unnerved Bella a bit. "Could you be nice. He is…important." She then practically begged.

Charlie then looked at Bella and draws a circle around his head mimicking a halo while looking awkwardly at Bella, as if her daughter is some crazy person.

Bella sighed; she then ran to the door and grabbed Edward's hand to formally introduce him to Charlie.

"Chief Swan, I want to formally introduce myself I'm Edward Cullen." Edward said calmly and confidently, extending his hands which Charlie shook.

"Hi Edward." Charlie greeted, though there was something in his voice that subtly imply his sudden dislike for the vampire.

"Bella and I won't be out too late tonight we're just gon'na play baseball with my family." Edward said politely.

"Baseball? Charlie echoed. He looked shocked.

"Yes sir. That's the plan." Edward said, smiling.

"Bella playing baseball? Good luck with that" He said in a voice of disbelief; though shocked, he felt a bit of pity for Edward and his family knowing how accident prone Bella was, especially when it comes to sports.

"I'll take good care of her I promise." Edward reassured.

" _Yeah, I hope I could say the same to you. My daughter is a weapon of mass accidental destruction"_ He then thought, smirking.

As they were about to live, Charlie subtly called Bella. "Hey. Do you still have the pepper spray?" He then whispered.

"Yeah…dad" Bella groaned in a voice that was dry and rustling, reflecting her brewing exasperation.

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Bella paused in awe as soon as she stepped outside of the house while Charlie who followed behind her let out a low whistle. Behind her truck was a monster jeep with tires higher than her waist and there are metal guards over the headlights and tail lights, and four large spot lights attached to the crash bar.

Edward followed Bella around to her side and opened the door while she gauged the distance to the seat and prepared to jump for it. The vampire then sighed and gently lifted her with one hand in to the seat.

"Wear your seatbelts!" Charlie then reminded Bella and Edward as the mammoth vehicle started with a tumultuous roar.

Bella was about to do just that when she noticed that there are too many buckles. "What's all this?" She asked, perplexed.

"It's an off-roading harness." Edward answered with a crooked grin on his face.

"Oh no." Bella worryingly muttered under her breath as she tried to find where all the buckles fit but the process wasn't in any way quick.

"Here let me help you." Edward sighed as he reached over and help Bella.

Bella was glad that the rain was too heavy for Charlie to see what's happening inside the jeep; how Edward's hands lingered on her neck and brushed along her collar bones. She gave up trying to help him fasten up but focused on not hyperventilating. When the ordeal was finally dealt with the jeep then pulled away from the house and haughtily drove in to the road.

"This is uhhm…big jeep you have." Bella muttered. Her own inquiry reminded her of little riding hood when she questioned the wolf guised as her grandmother.

"It's Emmet's " Edward replied, smiling.

After sometime of driving, the jeep then turned in to a side road. It was less than a road however, and more of a mountain path.

"Keep your eyes closed you'll be fine." Edward said as he saw Bella about to be sick. He leaned over to kiss the top of her head and then groaned, earning a puzzled look from her. "You smell so good in the rain." He explained.

Suddenly an arc of lightning jumped from cloud to cloud above them that was closely shadowed by a penetrating boom that sounded like a human voice implying something.

"What's that?" Bella inquired, perplexed. She could have sworn to hear the thunder say 'Nasty pervert!' as its roar reverberated on to the mountainous terrain the jeep was treading.

Edward on the other hand however ignored the eerie rumble, having seen and heard many stranger things than that from Naruto alone.

Then the road just got rougher; for a long while conversation was impossible since Bella was bouncing up and down like a jack hammer. Edward has apparently enjoyed the ride though, smiling hugely the whole way.

Finally it seemed that they've arrived at their destination as they reached the end of the road. The trees formed green walls on the side of the jeep; and the rain was just a mere drizzle, slowing every second and the sky was brighter through the clouds.

"Sorry Bella. We have to go on foot from here." Edward said as he got off the jeep.

"You know what. I'll just stay here." Bella said.

Edward smiled. Before Bella could react she noticed that she was already off the jeep and in Edward's arm, already setting her feet on the ground.

"Since when do vampires like baseball? Bella queried.

"Well uhhm…it's the American past time and there's thunderstorm coming, it's the only time we can play. You'll see why." Edward smilingly replied as he helped Bella with her baseball cap and tucked her hair behind her ears.

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The baseball field was bordered by a lush forest and waterfalls cascaded from the crags surrounding it. After a fairly lengthy walk Bella and Edward then saw the others. They then saw in particular Carlisle and Rosalie pitting of who gets the bat first; of which the latter won.

Though strangely, Bella noticed someone missing. "Where's Naruto?" She then asked.

"Don't worry about hi. He said he wasn't able to come because he has to make amends for a prank gone wrong." Alice giggled.

"Prank?" Bella muttered; there was an air of confusion in her face. Then it all came to her; she remembered Naruto's reaction the other day when she told the Cullens about Charlie's car being vanfalized. _"Could it be him?"_ She thought contemplatively. It was very much possible since the blonde and the young man aren't really in good terms and Naruto might have turned the car in to a Dalmatian thinking it was still Alex's.

"Bella." Esme greeted in a soft voice. "I'm glad you're here, we need an umpire." She then continued.

"She thinks we cheat." Emmett said, smiling cheekily as he walked in the background.

"I know you cheat." Esme fired back, snickering.

Alice then took her place at the pitcher's mound. "It's time." She smilingly said, accompanied by a sonorous blast of thunder. Rosalie then positioned at the home base where Esme and Bella behind her.

Alice then pitched the ball with full strength, swinging her entire body but Rosalie's swing connected, producing a loud thunderous boom upon impact.

"Okay, now I know why you need the thunder." Bella said astonished as it finally made sense why the Cullens need the cover of thunder just to play baseball.

The ball then whizzed above Edward's head, making him twist and after it with speeds that was almost imperceptible.

"That's gon'na be a home run. Right?" Bella inquired, thinking it was.

"Edward's really fast." Esme said with a confident smile.

True to her assessment, Edward was able to catch the speeding ball as it zoomed in to the woodlands; he then threw the ball back to the field where it was caught by Esme and tagged Rosalie as the latter slid in to home base.

"You're out." Bella said to Rosalie.

"Out! Whoop!" Emmett exclaimed, exhilarated. Rosalie wasn't so happy about the verdict and glared at him then to Bella. "Babe come on, it's just a game." He then said, trying to calm her down.

"Nice game." Carlisle said in a level voice to Rosalie, trying to cool her temper down, before he himself stood at the home base and positioned in to swinging stance. Once again Alice pitched and Carlisle was able to hit it perfectly with his bath, causing the ball to fly out of sight.

Alice suddenly gasped out of perturbation. Bella's sight was on Edward and she saw how his head snapped towards the former. Their eyes met and seemingly something flowed between them in an instant. Bella then found Edward on her side before the others could ask Alice what is wrong

"Alice?" Esme said in a tense voice.

"I didn't see…I couldn't tell." Alice muttered nervously.

"What is it Alice." Carlisle asked with a calm voice of authority. By this time all of the coven members save Naruto gathered around her.

"They were travelling much quicker than I thought. I can see I have the perspective wrong before" Alice murmured. "They were leaving but they heard us." She continued while Jasper leaned over her with a protective posture.

"Let's go." Edward said mirthlessly, heading for the Jeep.

"It's too late." Carlisle told him.

"Get your hair down." Edward then ordered Bella which she complied without question out of confusion.

"Like that will help. I can smell it from across the field." Rosalie sneered.

"I shouldn't have brought you here. I'm so sorry." Edward said apologetically.

"What…" Bella was about to inquire what's going on but was cutoff.

"Just be quiet and stand behind me." Edward then told her while Carlisle and the others gathered in to a protective line in front of them to meet the visitors. Then suddenly figures started to emerge from the forest. There were five of them, all having red that thirsted for human blood.

One of them was a woman with bright red hair and was dressed in fur coat. Far left of her is a male with long blonde hair and dressed in a jacket that Bella recognized as Waylon's. The one on the center had dark skin and dreads that fell down his shoulders, and is wearing an orange jacket. While the two others following behind them seemed to be much younger and more feral; both are male, one of them is lanky and has short auburn hair, while the other is not as gangly but still fairly tall and has black flowing that reached swayed down to his lower back.

"Newborns." Edward muttered pertaining to the two.

The strangers then paused a short distance away from them then gazed at the coven with calculating eyes.

The dark skinned one walked in front of his coven. "I believe this belongs to you." He then said in a voice that was laced with a strong French accent as he flicked his wrist, tossing the ball back to Carlisle's hand.

"Thank you." Carlisle calmly replied.

"I am Laurent." He then introduced himself. "This is Victoria and James" He pointed to the red headed female and blonde male. "And of course the newest members of our coven, Zick and Colton." He then continued by introducing the newborns.

"I'm Carlisle, this is my family." Carlisle then said politely.

"Hello" Laurent greeted while the two sides continued to stare down sharply at each other.

"I'm afraid you're hunting activities has caused something of a mess for us." Carlisle coolly said.

"Our apologies, we didn't realize that the territory has been claimed." Laurent said with unctuous solemnity in his voice and with a confidence of a courtier from a former century.

"Yes, well, we maintain a permanent residence nearby." Carlisle then explained which made James eyes turn to him for the latter found it somewhat strange.

"Really" Laurent said, looking to James as if seeking some sort of confirmation. "Well, we won't be a problem anymore. We're just passing through." He then continued, turning to Carlisle again.

"The humans were tacking us but we lead them east. You should be safe." Victoria supplemented.

Edward then noticed how James oddly sniffed the air with his eyes close and seemed to be contemplating about something. The latter then opened his eyes and look passed Carlisle and directly towards Bella.

"Excellent." Carlisle nodded.

"So, could you use more players?" Laurent said with a crooked grin in his face while the rest of the coven looked to Carlisle. "Come on. Just one game." He then then persuaded them.

Though the situation was direly uncomfortable; Carlisle mange to pull out a subterfuge to let Bella in to safety. "Why not. A few of us are just leaving you could take their place. We'll bat first." He then said, smiling.

"I'm the one with a wicked curve ball." Victoria smirked.

"Oh I think we can handle that." Jasper sniggered while Emmett grinned. In truth however, the former was using his pathokinesis to prevent a fight.

"We shall see." Victoria smilingly murmured as he and Laurent headed for the outfield while James continued to sniff the air, getting closer to what he's looking for.

As if a cruel joke of faith; when James was nearly convinced that nothing was amiss, the wind suddenly blew and carried Bella's scent right in to his face. "You brought a snack." He then leered at Bella and at the same time announced to his coven members the presence of the human.

Carlisle and the rest of his family then formed a protective barricade and saw how the other coven seemingly devolves from civilized to feral and animalistic. They were about to attack Bella when all of a sudden James was struck on his shoulder by what looks like a long sword, piercing his stone hard skin from front to back and launching the vampire with such force that he was pinned on a nearby oak flabbergasting everyone.

"What was that?" Laurent roared while Victoria screeched in both shock and rage witnessing the horrific fate of her mate.

James was wriggling as he screamed in pain, desperately trying to remove the weapon impaling him in to the tree but to no avail. It was no ordinary weapon that pierced him. The wickedly slender sword seems to be a construct of glowing four dimensional matter. It was coated in a glimmering field of cerulean energy that crackles and arcs lightning to the ground and in to its unfortunate victim causing much agony. Then by the command of its owner, the sword flicked and slashed James in to two like it has a mind of its own.

"Show yourself you coward!" Victoria screamed frantically turning her gaze in all directions, trying to locate the one responsible for his mate's demise.

The entire landscape was suddenly filled with a dense unearthly fog and darkness fluttered in the air like a celestial shadow steadily quenching the sun's light. Out of the mists opened a great luminous chasm that seemed to ignore the laws of physics as it distorts and warped the fabric of space-time. From the portal emerged Lestat, Armand and the new underling who was wearing an eerie looking mask.

"What are they?" Bella gaspingly inquired.

"They are vampires but of a different lineage. Unlike us they can only walk during the night for daylight is lethal to them; furthermore as they grow older they become stronger and more powerful. Given what they've just displayed, I reckon that they must be ancient." Carlisle explained with a trembling voice from the trepidation of beholding the strange creatures.

The rest of Jame's coven heard Carlisle and attempted to flee but was slaughtered instantly by Lestat and Armand by virtue of their killing gift and fire gift that has been enhanced by their master's power to the point of lethal perfection.

"I bid you greeting in the name of the gods" Lestat said amicably with a seemingly friendly smile.

"Thank you for assisting us back there." Carlisle said with a gentle smile on his face, extremely careful not to offend the trio.

"I'm afraid that's not we're here." Armand said in a demeanor that was like an average teen but much refined.

Bella was fascinated as she gazed at them, especially at Armand who looked like a very good looking teenage boy, no older than Jacob. Though unknown to them he is in fact the eldest of the three, being half a millennia old.

The one with the mask held out his hand and the chokutō flew and returned to his grasp. He then pointed the sword to Edward and began to spoke in a stern and cold voice that petrified Bella and the Cullen's. "Edward Cullen…by decree of our master, the outer god Errealth, you shall die in disgrace by the power of my blade."

With blinding speed he then moved to decapitate Edward but before his attack was able to connect Naruto **Hiraishined** and parried his sword with a kunai he coated with his golden shroud of six path chakra.

"Oh no you don't!" Naruto exclaimed with a mocking smirk. The expression on his face then suddenly became serious as he saw the chakra coating his kunai flicker and snuff like a feeble flame that has been blown away by the overpowering winds of darkness. "Damn, that's a nice toy you have there." He then said in awe, inspecting his kunai that has been cleanly cut by the enemy's blade.

The masked man however, remained taciturn and prepared for another attack, this time aimed at the shinobi.

Naruto calculated his opponent's next move then folded his hands in to a seal. "Okay, try a little of this! Fūton: Daitoppa!" he then exclaimed before unleashing a devastating stream of wind from his mouth that has enough destructive power to knock out everything in his line of sight, blowing away large trees as if they were flimsy twigs.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu" The underling also folded his hands in to seals and exclaimed. He then removed his mask and expelled a massive orb of roaring flame.

"What!" Naruto said in disbelief. "Another chakra user? That's impossible." he then muttered out of disbelief.

The combination of air and fire chakras erupted into a swirling giant fire-storm as their jutsus met; causing widespread destruction in to the immediate vicinity and burning the intervening ground between them in to molten slag.

Naruto however was more devastated and flummoxed in awe as he saw the true face of his opponent that he could only stutteringly mutter a single word in a shocked and gasping murmur. "Sasuke"

 **End**

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 **Hey there folks**

 **I hope you enjoyed reading. As requested this chapter has a bit more splash of Twilight in to it.**

 **Okay I know some of you guys are probably mad at me for turning Sakura in a necromantic experiment of the OC but do bear with me for a moment as I have awesome plans for team 7 on the subsequent chapters.**

 **Also, I did place a plot shield so that the OC can't intervene on the big fight between Naruto and Sasuke.**

 **Oh and the subsequent chapters has some twist that I hope you'll enjoy….though obviously I can't tell you guys about it yet.**

 **See you next chapter and as always any comment and or suggestion that will help improve the story as a whole is much appreciated.**

 **Cheerio :)**


	13. Chapter 13: Lords of Heaven

The skies dimmed like the eldritch waters of the river Styx as the dark clouds portentously blanketed the blue. Lightning arced and thunder roared, and heavy rain started to pour as the clashing chakras of Naruto and Sasuke permeated the air.

"Sasuke" Naruto said gaspingly in nostalgic awe and bafflement upon encountering the Uchiha for the first time in more than ten thousand years.

Sasuke was a bit astonished that the stranger in front of him knew his name. Furthermore, the way this strange blonde looks at him was somewhat confounding; the expression on his face was difficult to explain, like one who hasn't seen his friend for so long and yet found him still.

"What's happening? ….Naruto" Bella stutteringly muttered loud enough for everyone to hear. It's the first time she saw someone die in front of her and in such a fiendish death it was.

"So you are Naruto." Sasuke said indifferently as the black of his eyes transformed in to piercing **Sharingan**. "I have no quarrel with you but if you get in my way I won't hesitate to kill you." He then continued, pointing his sword at Naruto.

"What's happening?" Bella demanded to know again, and this time in a firmer tone, but no one answered her inquiry for it would seem that everyone's attention was focused on the confrontation between Naruto and Sasuske.

"Edward….take Bella out of here." Naruto said in a deathly serious tone as rippled patterns appeared from his faintly glowing purple eyes.

"Let's go." Carlisle said in a low and grave voice. It has been many years since he saw those piercing and terrifying eyes, back when the Volturi came to try and forcibly collect Alice in order to obtain her clairvoyant gift. In the end, four elite guards were dead while at the same time Aro, Marcos and Caius shiveringly developed a healthy fear of the blonde that day and has never bothered them ever since.

Naruto perfectly realized that the Uchiha was brought to the world of the living by virtue of some unnatural means. He knew that it was pointless to reason with him at the moment and the best recourse is to release his friend from the spell of enthrallment that compelled him to only hear and obey the whims of the person or entity responsible for plucking the Uchiha's soul from the pure land so that he may be used as a devastating weapon against them.

" _He has the_ _ **Rinnegan**_ _? How could this be possible….this isn't good."_ Sasuke thought; though his anxiety was belied by the cold expression on his face.

Naruto then made a seal of confrontation and focused a large amount of chakra in to his **Rinnegan**. "Release!" He then exclaimed imperiously, unleashing a wave of the formerly contained chakra that was meant to release Sasuke from the mind bending powers that has clouded his volition and memory.

However, as soon as the pulse was about to connect the chokutō wielded by Sasuke blazed with an eerie cerulean brilliance and formed a defensive field around the Uchiha, nullifying Naruto's attempt.

In response Sasuke unleashed a barraged of shurikens he coated with searing flames through his fire jutsu. Loud and deafening explosions akin to that elicited by modern high-caliber artillery fire then ensued as the supersonic projectiles impacted the ground where Naruto formerly stood.

Like a blur, Naruto appeared behind Sasuke wielding a **rasengan** on one hand. He then slammed the jutsu in to the latter, though taking heed of his aim not to kill his former comrade. To his surprise however when the Uchiha used his sword to block the attack; he saw how the accursed blade disrupt the spinning chakra of the **Rasengan** until the jutsu started to flicker and destabilize then inexorably extinguish.

Streams of crackling lightning abruptly emanated from Sasuke's hand which he then channeled to his sword causing it to glow even fiercer as if the entire blade is now a construct of pure effulgent energy.

With blinding speeds he then proceeded to execute a forward slash intending to cut Naruto's body in half. The blade effortlessly glided through the other shinobi's body like a searing hot knife on to butter. Sasuke however knew that victory wouldn't be that simple against such a formidable opponent. His analysis was proven right when the bisected Naruto suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"A shadow clone" Sasuke muttered while his scarlet gaze calculatingly scanned every direction, trying to anticipate where Naruto's next attack will come.

Suddenly, a strange brilliance emanated from the skies then as the raven haired shinobi raised his head up he saw thousands upon thousands of Naruto's shadow clowns, each wielding an **Ōdama Rasengan**.

"Sasuke!" Naruto and the rest of his clones howled intensely as large orbs of compressed chakra spun fiercely from their hands. Naruto was hell-bent to release his friend from the enthrallment by any means necessary, even if it means beating him to a pulp.

Evasion was not an option for Naruto's wide range attack was all but impossible to avoid. There is only one recourse available to Sasuke, he must call upon the power he hadn't utilized in ten thousand years, and he must unleash it in its full force. Spinning inverted patterns then morphed in his eyes as his **Sharingan** transcended its current form and transformed in to **Mangekyō Sharingan**. Subsequently, dark blue flames emanated around his body and titanic skeletal ribs and arms attached to a great skull began to materialize, forming a full bodied **Susanoo** faster than a blink of an eye.

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(Quileute Reservation)

The skies were lined with dark clouds that were ripe with gloomy precipitation and the air was cold from the looming heavy downpour but otherwise the entirety of the landscape was calm and still. It was a seemingly regular day at the reservation however Leah couldn't help but feel that something was amiss, as if a great disruption between the chaotic forces of nature is driving everything in to a typhonic and turbulent entropy.

For some reason the image of Naruto flashed inside her head and an unexplainable urgency of a nature unknown has engrained itself deep within her psyche as if her very flesh was being branded with coils of red hot iron.

She then felt a ghostly pain that was psychological but as if crossed the borders of the physical realm and radiated to every cell in her body like the necrotizing venom of dessert adders. "Naruto" She muttered uneasily before phasing in to her wolf form unconsciously.

"Leah!" Sue said in horror as she saw her daughter transform.

Subsequently, the bushes near their house rustled and crunched; and from the depths of the forest emerged Sam and his pack which were all in their wolf forms. Apparently they too have sensed an ominous imbalance between natural forces though not to the extent felt by Leah.

"What are you guys doing here?" Leah inquired telepathically with a rather confounded expression.

"Like you we felt a dark and powerful force so we decided to investigate….however, on our way to the mountains Seth heard your thoughts….so it is Naruto's doing." Sam communicated back in the same manner, growling at the end of his sentence.

"Stay away from him." Leah growled back fiercely.

"This is beyond you and me! That Naruto is a monster!" Sam snarled jarringly in response. "I don't care if you imprinted on him. If he endangers the tribe I will not hesitate to kill him…..and you." He then continued in an austere manner, issuing a warning glare to Leah.

Hearing this, Seth couldn't help but look at Sam in disbelief but didn't dare dispute his Alpha's threat, he then turned his gaze to Leah wanting to help her and comfort her from the pain she's trying to endure at that very moment but was powerless to do anything.

Suddenly, they heard loud and thunderous explosions followed by a faint pressure wave and seismic trembles. Then looking at the mountain range miles away from their current location all of them beheld a multitude of bright bursts of light along with a gigantic humanoid figure that was seemingly made of roaring dark flames.

Leah didn't know what got in to her. Like a nightwalker who unwittingly obeys the doom of dreams she started to run as fast as she could, heading forth in to the direction of the ominous phenomenon while the image of Naruto flashed unceasingly inside her head.

"Leah comeback!" Sam howled with his alpha voice but to no avail for the white wolf charged unheedingly towards the mountains, totally uncaring of the dangers.

"Please….don't let anything happen to her." Sue practically begged while tears fell from her eyes.

Sam nodded in concurrence then gestured the other shape shifters to follow his lead as they went after Leah.

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The devastation ensued by the countless exploding **Ōdama Rasengan** was beyond belief for the plateau they were standing on just moments ago was almost hollowed out at its culmination.

Sasuke remained unharmed by virtue of his **Susanoo's** nigh indomitable defenses but was in awe as he beheld how powerful his opponent was. Stranger still, the lurid flashes purveyed by the waves of exploding chakra stirred something deep inside of him. Shadowy visions of dubious memories flashed before his eyes like the phantasmagoric rapture of a prolonged nightmarish dream.

An uncanny feeling crept inside him as the detonating **Rasengans** beat upon his senses like waves of disintegrative force that lacerated the inmost fibers of his body. He felt that somewhere or sometime in the far past he knew the rambunctious blonde. His musings was abruptly disrupted when suddenly he felt the immense strain of the ninjutsu. The pain, along with the immense chakra drain has prompted him to deactivate his **Susanoo**.

"Sasuke please…let's not do this any further." Naruto said in a gentle voice trying reason out with Sasuke and appeal to his better senses.

"You talk a too much." Sasuke said austerely as he folded his hands in to seals and compressed large amounts of chakra inside his body. " **Katon: Gōryūka no Jutsu!** " He then exclaimed, unleashing a torrent of intense flames which he skillfully molded in to a dragon head shaped fireball and directed towards Naruto.

With a single hand seal Naruto conjured **Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu** drawing massive amounts of water from the moisture around the air and from the defaced waterfalls nearby then shaped it in to a gigantic powerful dragon moving at very high speeds, clashing with Sasuke's fire jutsu.

Large amounts of steam was unleashed as the two powerful jutsus connected, creating an upward movements of air current that subsequently caused the already dim skies to erupt in to a wild tempest of lightning storms.

"You intend to use the enormous energy in the atmosphere to create a powerful lightning jutsu. That's the Sasuke I know." Naruto said calmly with a smile on his face, giving praise to the other shinobi's skills.

"You caught that huh? No matter….It's time to settle this. You will die right here." Sasuke said with a smirk on his face. "This jutsu is called **Kirin** ; it guides the lightning down from the heavens. All I have to do is merely direct its power right to you." He then continued while his right hand was gradually engulfed with crackling arcs of lightning.

Naruto knew that it would be next to impossible to avoid the jutsu unless he **Hiraishined** himself out of the battlefield, though he opted not to, instead he chose to greet the attack head on. Soon a golden cloak of chakra flared up and surrounded his body like raging flames. The chakra then molded itself in to an immense battle avatar that can easily rival Sasuke's perfect **Susanoo**. Then from the dragon like mark on his arm Naruto summoned the Bakunawa; the great dragon then coiled itself around the battle avatar's torso and in to its shoulders, provoking an awe inspiring sight to behold.

"This is so out of our league." Lestat murmured to Armand, while the other vampire can just watch in astonishment and couldn't utter any reply.

Sasuke then raised his hand and thunderous rancor emanated from the heavens as arcs of lightning danced from cloud to cloud and formed what looked like a dragon composed purely of frenzied fulmination.

For a split second the chaotic arcing ceased as the lightning seemingly accrued in to a single accumulation point. "Be gone with the thunderclap!" Sasuke said coldly, slamming his hands downwards and causing the condensed pillar of lighting to dart towards Naruto.

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With vampiric speeds the Cullens along with Bella were able to thread significant distance away from the fighting when a blinding flash of lightning blazed brightly followed by a loud explosion that reverberated on to the mountainous landscape.

"What the hell is that?" Emmett muttered with a hollow voice as he saw the multitude of trees bow before the unforgiving shock waves of the thunderous detonation that completely obliterated the plateau which was the battlefield between Naruto and Sasuke.

"Let's move!" Jasper hissed in a mirthless voice. The expression on his face then became more grave as he saw Alice staring blankly in to the air, having a vision which given the current circumstances couldn't be good. "Alice what is it? What did you see?" He then inquired, worried.

"Not good." Alice stated in a hollow voice.

"Let's get out of here as quickly as possible." Carlisle spoke in a sere but authoritative murmur as if a worried father issuing a command to his children.

"Too late….brace yourselves." Alice gaspingly muttered as she saw the immense cloud of dust along with the rapidly expanding shock wave head their way.

Edward and Bella quickly found succor behind a small but sturdy looking tor while the rest of the Cullens fall back instinctively in to a defensive stance and braced themselves for dear life.

The shock front moved forward with incredible speeds, destroying everything in its path as the gigantic moving wall of compressed gases forcibly tore down trees from its roots like grass being mowed by a macrocosmic scythe. They then beheld how the ground consequentially undulated from the blast wave like rippling water decimating the few still standing trees that survived the earlier uproar.

Bella was frozen in fear as she hugged Edward keenly. She then saw how the stout trees where flung away by the turbulent winds like insignificant twigs, and felt how the earth trembled as if the ground was struck hard by a giant's hammer.

"Bella its ok…everything's gon'na be fine." Edward said, trying to assuage her fear as much as he could.

"What's happening?" Bella queried, trembling.

To this Edward cannot coherently answer for he himself was oblivious of the detail with regards to the mind blowing battle taking place between Naruto and Sasuke; its outcome however is evidently destructive beyond belief that he could only hug Bella and try to protect her as much as he could from the upheaval while at the same time hope that the fierce duel between the two powerful shinobi would soon be over.

Suddenly the cyclonic winds and torrential chaos abated and streams of light began to penetrate the ebbing storm clouds until the entire landscape was bathed with bright sunshine.

"You guys ok?" Emmett asked while he and the rest of the Cullen's sparkled as the beams of the vivid sunlight shone on their skin.

"Yes…were good" Edward replied "Do you think it's over?" He then inquired.

"It's far from over." Rosalie said pointing a finger on to the obliterated crag, along with the half flattened mountain.

Bella and Edward came out of the tor from which they sought protection earlier and saw a gigantic golden humanoid with a dragon-like entity strapped within its waste and its shoulders. Then suddenly they beheld in shock as another equally titanic entity composed of dark blue flames materializes.

Like a spark that reignited a larger flame, Bella suddenly recalled the dream she had months ago, she remembered the vision vouchsafed to her by the elfin star that nestled amidst the branches of the great tree. She then realized that the raven haired boy in her dream was one with Naruto's current opponent.

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The once stunning plateau was totally obliterated and the lush vegetation surrounding it burned to cinders or forcibly torn from their roots by the subsequent blastwave. Naruto however remained unharmed, and his battle avatar unscathed.

"Impossible" Sasuke muttered seeing the blonde tank the **Kirin** and survive unscratched.

"Now can we just talk this out?" Naruto said calmly, extending a hand towards Sasuke.

"Don't you ever shut up!" Sasuke exclaimed as the annoyance, disbelief and frustration build up. Furious dark flames then roared and coated his body as he conjured a perfect **Susanoo.** He then bided the **Susanoo** to knock its bow and aim it directly to Naruto.

"Sasuke please…don't do this." Naruto once again tried to appeal to his friend's better senses but to no avail.

Sasuke then loosed a fiery arrow at Naruto; the projectile darted with great force and speed, and shockwaves formed as it easily sliced through the air, breaking the sound barrier. However, just a few meters before connecting; the Bakunawa used its dimensional bending powers as per Naruto's injunction and phased the arrow out of the mundane reality, causing it to harmlessly pass through his battle avatar.

" _The sword…it's the only thing that could hurt him."_ Sasuke then heard his master's eerie echoing voice inside his head.

"Oh boy, here it comes. His lordship is gon'na cheat again." Lestat said in a monotonous tone, face palming himself as he shook his head.

"Still your tongue Lestat. How dare you talk about our master in such a deriding manner." Armand chided.

"Oh just shut it you suck up." Lestat riposted in a deadpan voice that earned him an angry glare from Armand.

Suddenly the **Susanoo** began to move, first slowly then gradually gaining speed. The ground shook as it charged faster and faster towards Naruto, unleashing a barrage of powerful blows as it gained sufficient proximity.

Naruto countered and retaliated by having his battle avatar also unleash a battering of punches directed to Sasuke. Bursts of deafening thunderous roar reverberated in to the landscape as the titanic entities brawl, generating sonic booms with each and every punch. Then the two locked their enormous hands with each other in an unbreakable grasp, pushing contraparellel to each other with great force until one topples in an epic battle of strength. Slowly, the **Susanoo** was losing ground for it was clear that the **Juubi** backed battle avatar is far superior.

In an intimidating display of ferocity the Bakunawa reared its head upwards and exposed a maw full of razor sharp teeth along with a set of intimidating dagger like fangs; it then struck with blinding speed and coiled itself around the **Susanoo** while its gulf like mouth clasped the entity's left shoulder, completely subduing it.

"Sasuke you're under a spell. Snap out of it!" Naruto exclaimed at the currently incapacitated Sasuke.

"I said shut the hell up!" Sasuke screamed furiously, casting **Amaterasu** from his **Mangekyou Sharingan**.

" **Shinra Tensei**!"Naruto once again exclaimed as a powerful wave of repulsive force deflected the black flames away from him.

"Damn it Sasuke, watch where you aim that thing!" Armand remonstrated after nearly getting burned by a splash of the deflected **Amaterasu**.

"I think we should get out of here." Lestat suggested, looking at Armand.

"Agreed" Armand concurred.

Utilizing their cloud gifts, both Lestat and Armand then flew away out of danger as they realized that the battle between Naruto and Sasuke will only be more destructive as it progressively intensifies, and they are well aware that they are tempting fate the longer they linger on.

With impeccable timing, Susuke undone his Susanoo and swung his chokutō, severing asunder the Bakunawa's head; he then leapt forward and aimed the lethal point of his blade directly towards Naruto.

" **This is bad. That's no ordinary sword."** Kurama warned inside of Naruto's head.

The fox's assessment was proven to be right for chakra violently erupted in similar fashion to streams of gushing blood as soon as the shimmering sword made contact with the battle avatar's golden skin.

Naruto then quickly **Hiraishned** himself away before the penetrating blade could reach him any further and materialized a few meters away from his current location, near a thunder god seal marked kunai that he purposely scattered beforehand.

Out of sudden, skeletal hands burst out form the ground then grasped Naruto's leg with an adamantine grip, making him unable to move freely.

A fast spinning **Rasengan** then emanated from Naruto's hand but strangely enough, the shinobi stopped on his tracks. He was about to slam the orb in to the deceptively looking powerful skeletal claws as he shockingly beheld the withered locks of pink hair on the skull that owned it.

"No…Sakura….what have they done to you." Naruto muttered in horror with a faint voice, flummoxed and devastated like a man who have looked upon the ninth circle of hell and saw his own inevitable doom.

Naruto's tongue then froze from his mouth like a once flowing stream that had been stilled by the unforgiving gelid rime of a deathly winter. The presence of the decrepit skeletal Sakura has filled him with sorrow, regret and guilt; thinking that the unspeakably horrible fate his former teammates was made to endure is a direct consequence of his inability to protect them.

Needless to say this distracted him from the battle and the next thing he saw was Sasuke about to stab him in the heart. With quick thinking, Naruto transformed in to his six path sage mode while at the same time moving to dodge Sasuke's chokutō. Orange irides appeared from his now slitted pupils that were merged with six path sage mode eye patterns.

Then truth seeking balls of black malleable chakra manifested themselves and expanded, forming a formidable barrier between Naruto and the enchanted sword. It was in naught however as the unforgiving blade penetrated the barrier with trivial ease.

Luckily for Naruto he was able to sufficiently move away for the blade only shallowly grazed his left arm. However, such as one would experience in a dream that had gone wrong, the small cut was almost unbearably agonizing; as if every cell in his body was screaming in pain for it would seem that the eldritch blade wielded by Sasuke was not only honed to glide through armor, flesh and bones with ease but was also tuned to cleave the very soul itself.

A that very moment Naruto realized that the spell enthralling both of his friends and former team mates was too powerful to be undone and their only salvation is the quick release of death through clean annihilation.

"I'm sorry." Naruto solemnly muttered as he guided wind element chakra in to the **Rasengan** on his palm causing the orb to manifest screeching blades and transform in to **Wind Release: Rasenshuriken**. He then slammed the jutsu in to Sasuke while simultaneously blasting Sakura with one of his truth seeking balls, atomizing her unhallowed skeletal form.

Sasuke was thrown a good distance away from where he stood by the sheer force of the jutsu; subsequently, a violently rotating air sphere formed around as countless microscopic wind blades cut him on a cellular level, causing irreversible damage to his body.

"Master I need more power." Sauske then muttered as he lay prone in to the heat blackened stone unable to move for Naruto's jutsu severed all the nerve channels in his body and destroyed his chakra circulatory system.

" _Granted!"_ Alex said with a thunderous echoing voice in concurrence; subsequently channeling an infinitesimal fraction of his power in to raven haired shinobi.

Sasuke then noticed a fiery cloak of white energy slowly engulf him and he felt that his incapacitated body swiftly heal as if no damage has been done to it at all. He then felt a warm sensation flowing through him as he became a conduit of the outer god's energies. The experience was quite an epiphany for never he felt such overwhelming power surge within him that it engendered his right eye to evolve in to a six tomoe **Rinnegan**. Healed and newly energized he then stood up, much to the shock of Naruto who can't believe what his eyes are seeing right now.

"But how…it's impossible" Naruto muttered in a dumbfounded tone for the **Rasenshuriken** should've effectively killed Sausuke.

From the fiery white cloak he donned, Sasuke then conjured a perfect **Susanoo**. However, unlike its previous incarnations the colossal entity now has a much lighter hue like glimmering polished silver that has been exposed in to iridescent light. Subsequently, long tendril like wings similar to that of his patron god sprouted from the Susanoo's back and flittered in to the air menacingly, scraping the clouds overhead.

In response, Naruto conjured his battle avatar in full power. The black truth seeking balls on his back then converged and formed in to magnificent great sword with more than enough power to cut a mighty mountain effortlessly in half with a single irrelevant swing.

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(North American Air and Space Defense Command H.Q)

Seemingly it was just an ordinary day at the base. Col. Joseph Markham was in his office when he received an urgent call from his superior requiring his presence due to a possible DEFCON 1 situation. Without delay he proceeded to the command center where his superior, Major General Daniel Forrester mirthlessly gazed on the screen and on the report in his hand.

"You called sir" Col. Markham greeted with a salute.

"Colonel….Minutes ago we received a report about a strange phenomenon happening in the state of Washington, near a town called Forks." Gen. Forrester saluted back then began to brief his suburdinate with regards to the situation.

"What kind of phenomenon sir?" Col. Markham inquired.

"Apparently there was a large explosion accompanied by bright light, similar to that of an exploding tactical nuclear warhead." Gen. Forrester said, handing a copy of the report to the colonel.

"I don't understand sir…...if a hostile country or even a terrorist group is responsible for this attack why would they target an isolated and scarcely populated town such as Forks?" Col. Markham muttered with a confounded expression on his face.

"Let's not jump to conclusions son. We have yet to confirm if it is indeed an attack by hostile forces. We've already sent a UCAV to investigate; any moment from now we'll get a live feed" Gen. Forrester said in a calm voice, befitting to an astute man of his post.

"Sir we have visual." As if on cue, an airman manning one of the computers said in a voice that reflected his shock like a man who peered in to hell and saw a thousand demons sinisterly grinning back.

"Put it on screen." Gen. Forrester ordered exigently.

Soon everyone shared the flummoxed and horrified expression of the airman as the feed was played on the largest monitor of the command center for all to see. The area from which a small mountain stood is now a gaping crater and worst of all, the apparent cause of it were two gargantuan entities locked in mortal combat.

"What the hell are those" Col. Markham mumbled in disbelief.

At that very moment General Forrester's composure eroded like a strong metal that has been submerged in powerful acid. "Get me a line to the white house." He said in a faint voice that he was barely able to mutter.

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"Yes. Wonderful" Alex chuckled as he observed the battle while hidden amidst the lacunae of the mainstream reality and super mundane dimensions. He then turned his attention to Edward. "Hold still, I don't want to make a mess" He said coldly with a demonic grin on his face; outstretching his hand from which a luridly iridescent energy of pure and undiluted destruction began to charge up.

But before his power could unfold, a great dimensional chasm opened and from its violent spinning vortex, a mass of shadowy tentacles emerged. They were as large and as thick as telephone poles and were dark in the deepest shade of black. The tendrils would seem to be an infinitesimal part of an infinitely vaster multiversal entity. Its essence wrought out of an ethereal substance from a higher dimension that shimmers in macrocosmic magnificence and compels the lower planes of existence to tremble and waver before its mind shattering presence.

Abruptly, one of the writhing tendrils then proceeds to smack Alex at the back of his head with a whipping snap as if a disapproving parent reprimands his misbehaving and mischievous brat.

"What part of do not interfere with mortal affairs do you not understand!" An eerie echoing voice chided the young man with stony and sonorous accents that were echoed metallically in to the hollow dimension.

"Ouch! …ok, fine….fine….I won't interfere. Jeez dad, you don't have to get all snappy you know." Alex said like a pouty child as he rubbed the back of his head.

Unhallowed sinister eyes then opened from the tip of some of the writhing stygian tendrils and eyed Alex skeptically.

"The fight was boring….I'm just spicing things up." Alex said with a seemingly blameless expression on his face. "Can't I have little bit of fun around here?" He then continued to convince his father but it would seem that Yog-Sothoth wasn't impressed at all.

"Intercede once more and you shall pay a painful price!" Yog-Sothoh then reprimanded harshly.

"Intercede once more and you shall pay a painful price….it's always so intense with this guy." Alex surreptitiously mumbled in a mocking tone, annoyed that his amusement was forcibly curbed.

Being an omniscient entity, Yog-Sothoth was well aware of his son's sassing and opted to teach the boy a lesson in humility. Suddenly the unearthly dimension hosting them became even more nebulous as if the very fabric of reality was being torn apart and from the heavens torrents of undiluted destructive celestial energy darted out and zapped Alex, causing immense agony as the divine bolts burned with intensity beyond human comprehension.

"It was worth it." Alex said in a seemingly low and sheepish but unapologetic voice as he comically coughed up puffs of smoke from being nearly roasted while Yog-Sothoth can't help but roll his innumerable eyes from the obnoxious stubbornness of his son.

"Disobedient brat! You are not the arbiter of their fate." Yog-Sothoth chided Alex with regards to his interference with the affairs of humanity.

"They need us to survive." Alex said in a voice that was beginning be overtaken by a serious tone.

"You are blinded by your love for them that you only saw what you wanted to see and not the truth." Yog-Sothoth said sagaciously infuriating his son for the latter couldn't accept the truth.

"Father if we let them be they will be destroyed….likely by themselves. They have a penchant for self-destruction." Alex tried to be calm and not let his rage get the better of him though his voice was riddled with restrained anger.

"If such is their fate then let them fade my son." Yog-Sothoth said coldly, with a reverberating voice like shattering ice from a frozen hell.

"That's what you've planned all along didn't you? To let them live for a while until such time they can be slaughtered like cattle." Alex said clenching his fist, his eyes showing visible signs of sadness and most of all anger as they glow azure from the sudden vortex of emotions.

"Watch your tone." Yog-Sothoth exclaimed, reprimanding his son's insolence. "You misapprehend me. Like I said you are blinded by your love for them that you couldn't see the fact that they offer more than what you give them credit for. Look at them. They are no longer the scared and helpless little things you found more than two and a half million years ago and decided to nurture ever since. They have matured as a species. Let them go, let them chose the right path for themselves." He then continued in a much calmer voice.

To this Alex was taciturn; he then shifted his gaze and saw Naruto and Sasuke killing each other along with Bella who was frozen in fear. "Forgive me for I was blind but now I can see." He muttered repentantly in a hollow and somber voice as he realized his mistake. "I shall return what I've taken after the passing of the convergence but for now I must set things right" He then said while his eyes glow brightly.

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Now the fight between Naruto and Sasuke has taken a new height, both in a figurative and literal sense; for they were now fighting far above the clouds and with intent of killing each other.

Through his **Susanoo,** Sasuke channeled his enhanced power and created a long bow and arrow that was infused with powerful lightning natured chakra.

Seeing this, Naruto opted to counter by creating two shadow clones of his battle avatar. The shadow clones then merged into the original, creating a three-faced, six-armed construct. In its right arms, it created a **Wind Release: Ultra-Big Ball Rasenshuriken** , and in its left arms, it formed a **Tailed Beast Ball Rasenshuriken** , both infused with natural energy.

Both shinobi then unleashed their most powerful attack, directing them toward the other. Subsequently, a tremendous explosion occurred knocking out nearby satellites as the jutsu's connected and impacted each other. Its destructive power eclipsed that of a high yield nuclear explosion, and would've annihilated the outlying landscape, along with the town of Forks if it weren't for the fact that they're engaging each other at very high altitudes, just a little bit below the mesosphere.

Out of sudden, Susauke's sword began to crack and from the fissures shined blazing beams, pouring ever vaster until the entire heavens and the earth beneath was blanketed with blinding light that was unfathomably torrid and effulgent, causing the sun to seem no more than a daylight moon.

Then from the empyrean light, Naruto found himself in a familiar locus, at a grass field that was familiarly reminiscent to a glade within the forest surrounding Konoha. He breathed the nectar laden air that was utmost pleasant to the senses, and stranger still he felt no trace of pain or fatigue from his interrupted battle with Sasuke. Shifting his gaze, he then beheld a dirt road and for reasons he couldn't explain decided to follow its path, walking with steady strides until he reached a crossroad where he saw Sasuke and Sakura waiting for him.

Both were smiling and are seemingly at peace for the spell of enthrallment that forcefully ripped their souls from the bliss of eternal rest and anchored it to the mortal plane has now been lifted; and finally they can now return to the pure-lands, to the paradise that was formerly lost to them.

"You have done it Naruto. You have released us from our prison." Sakura said gratefully with a gentle smile on her face.

"What's going on?" Naruto muttered stutteringly in a hollow voice, confused.

"We were enslaved by virtue of a dreadful enchantment but you have released us." Sasuke said in a voice that while outwardly stoic, reflected his exultation to see his comrades and his friends once more.

The whirlwind of emotions Naruto felt at that very moment was impossible to describe in words for it is beyond the normal scope of what a human could experience. "You don't know how long I have dreamt of this moment." He then said with teary eyes and a joyous smile on his face as he hugged his friends keenly.

"Naruto we must go now." Sakura said in a gentle yet somber voice.

"Please don't leave me here." Naruto pleaded for them to stay or at the very least take him on their journey, wherever it might be.

"We cannot stay any longer, and you still have much to do here." Sasuke calmly explained to the blonde. "Don't worry. We will see each other again. Though, not too soon I hope." He then quipped followed by a gentle and reassuring smile. It is one of those rare moments when the Uchiha lightens up and even crack a joke, though Naruto could only wish it was under better circumstances.

"We have a long journey ahead of us. Good bye for now Naruto." Sakura then spoke in a voice that was soft and pleasant, kissing Naruto on the cheek. She and Sasuke then hold hands and departed together in to the light, disappearing in to the blissful empyrean whiteness.

Naruto was then again left alone in the crossroads. In his somber musing however, he saw something strange; he noticed the partial dimming of the light; the somnolent, dreamy saddening of the colors, to be followed by another period of ecstatic brightening. Subsequently, the sky and the landscape had flamed again to their culminating brilliance shadowed by a mounting of a wall of darkness that enveloped everything in its stygian embrace.

The shinobi then felt like falling in to a deep abyss while at the same time the landscape before him vanished in a swirl of broken images and everything went blind. There was a feeling of intense cold like that of a sub-arctic winter, and an indescribable sickness and vertigo possessed him, due to the profound disturbance of equilibrium. Either from the speed of Naruto's descent or for some other reason he was for a moment totally unable to draw breathe.

Naruto then opened his azure eyes and saw Leah in her wolf form looking back at him. Apparently, she saw the shinobi falling from the sky but for reason yet obscured he landed softly on the ground, and surprisingly without any injury.

Naruto, overwhelmed with emotion, hugged Leah ardently; while in silence, tears fell from his eyes and in to the white wolf's snow like fur.

Leah then transformed back in to her human form and without saying a word kissed Naruto on his lips torridly and full of unrestrained passion.

Soon, Sam's pack arrived along with the Cullen's who worriedly saw Naruto fell from the sky and decided to risk it all and turn back for him. To their surprise however, when they saw Naruto fervidly kissing Leah who was completely naked at the moment. The shape shifters growl in outrage while the Cullen's where stunned, their eyes the size of dinner plates.

"This is so weird." Rosalie said with a vacant stare while at the same time blocking Emmett's eyes with her hand as if trying to shield the vision of a child that has been accidentally exposed to something inappropriate.

A little while longer, three F-18 jetfighters came flying in. They were scrambled from a nearby airbase to investigate the mysterious anomaly earlier that was feared to be a hostile attack on US soil by terrorist forces or by a rogue nation.

"Command this is Striker One, we are within visual range of the target location…negative so far.…everything looks fine. Wait, what's that…" The lead pilot reported but seemed to behold something that distracted him.

"What is it Striker One, report." One of the ground control airman coordinating the mission said, asking for clarification.

"Nothing…..just some lucky dude nailing a naked chick." The pilot replied, unable to restrain his amusement.

 **End**

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 **Hey there folks!**

 **It has been a while since I updated. I hope you awesome people enjoyed reading.**

 **So in this chapter you may have noticed that the battle scene isn't rolled up in to a single heap, this is because I was trying to experiment on a writing style that also depicts the effect of Naruto and Sasuke's battle to the people around them as it ensues. Also I think it would be nice to put some light and comedic end after a mostly intense story.**

 **Anyways, it would seem that our story is nearing its end 3 or 4 chapters from now. Though there will be some plot twisters on the subsequent chapters just to spice things up.**

 **Happy Holidays To Ya'll**

 **Cheerio :)**


	14. Chapter 14: Line in the Sand

Weeks have passed since the confrontation between Naruto and Sasuke. The epic battle between the two extremely powerful shinobi left the landscape scarred and devastated. The once lush forest within the immediate vicinity was charred, and the peaks and crags that once stood mighty and insurmountable was pulverized by the detonating **Odama Rasengans** ; and the stony ground was glassed by the black searing flames of **Amaterasu**.

A team of the country's leading scientists and best minds were assembled by the government to investigate the mysterious, if not unsettling portent. It was, however, for naught as all of them were puzzled beyond belief upon seeing the extent of the destruction. Their opinions were divided and unable to draw neither reasonable conclusion nor conjecture.

Furthermore, a separate investigation from the FBI bore little fruit as well as they were only able to extract vague and conflicting information from the people who witnessed the strange prodigy. Some believe that the giant entities were aliens; others thought they were forest spirits from Quileute legends that were befouled by humanity's greed and exploitation of their sacred domain; while conspiracy theorists vehemently pointed out that the behemoths were government experiments gone wrong.

Needless to say, the 'good folks' from the Pentagon and the White House aren't too happy about it and have dispatched heavily armed troops to barricade the scene from the almost unending horde of snooping reporters, rabid conspiracy theorists and other curious souls alike that have flocked in to the small and wet town of Forks like vultures who caught the scent of a fresh carrion.

Though if there's any consolation, Forks has never been so alive and the local economy is booming. All the local hotels and inns were fully booked from the unexpected inflow of guests; and some enterprising residents capitalized on this phenomenon to rake in some extra buck by opening their houses in to bed and breakfast establishments for the weary tourists in need of transient accommodation.

Newton's Olympic Outfitters isn't doing that bad either; the store was selling hiking gear like hotcakes, faster than new stocks could arrive to the point that Mr. Newton's usual staff couldn't handle such sudden influx of customers prompting him to hire Bella and Naruto as part time help.

"Wait isn't that one of the Cullen kids? I think his name is Naruto, right? OMG he's so gorgeous." One of the local girls murmured to her equally flushed friends as they looked around the store.

"I heard he's working part time here." The other said as she dreamily ogled the blonde as he pensively restocked the shelves with new hiking gear fresh from the box.

"I wonder why he's working here. Isn't he like already filthy rich?" One of the girl nattered, confused.

"Believe it or not he's not getting paid at all…I've overheard Mr. Newton the other day that Naruto refused any kind of payment." The first girl then gossipingly said in a hush voice. "Aww…I wonder why he looks so down though."

"Because like his brother he's also a weirdo." Out of the blue Mike appeared then forced his way in to their conversation, earning him ire from the group of gossiping girls. If one would listen keenly, a good amount of jealousy could be detected from the cadence of his voice. "Now, what can I help you ladies with?" He then said with a sycophantically slick jovial tone, complete with a boy next door smile as if trying to impress the bunch in to diverting their attention and infatuation on to him.

" _You could mind your own business that's what."_ One of the girls irately thought but her outward composure bellied her displeasure of Mike's nosiness. "Well...if it isn't much of a bother…could you introduce us to your friend over there." She then said cutely accompanied with big puppy dog eyes, thinking that the nosey boy in front of them will be of some altruistic utility and be a bridge to Naruto.

It was a big mistake however as Mike's happy go lucky smile dropped like a fly and was replaced by a nasty frown and an even nastier disposition. "Look here you skanks. If your tiny little slutty brains haven't noticed, this is a sporting goods store not a host club, and definitely not manwhore stable."

"What is your problem? Aren't you supposed to be helping people? I can't believe you're talking to a paying customer like this!" The girl offendedly protested while her friends were frozen silent out of shock.

Oh I'm trying to help you, I'm trying to help you to have standards. But then again seeing you'll just end up in a shady street of Hollywood boulevard whoring yourself and smoking crack….why bother. So if you're not gon'na buy anything you might as well take your mutely gratifying skanky friends and get the hell out!" Mike howled irately with a piercing voice to the group of gossiping girls that hilariously stormed out of the shop. _"Wow that was surprisingly therapeutic_." He then thought gaspingly, like a person with implosive anger management issues that was able to unleash his inner anxieties and frustrations on a medium before it was able to consume him completely.

"Okaayyy….isn't it too early for you to get too worked out." Bella inquired and at the same time tried to calm down Mike.

"Mike! In my office now." Mr. Newton said austerely in remonstration of his son's behavior.

"Okay…..see you around Bella." Mike then sighed then gloomily bade farewell to Bella like he's about to get executed.

Ordinarily, Naruto would find this funny and wouldn't be able to contain a chuckle. He however remained tranquil and impassive, perfunctorily doing his task like a soulless automaton.

"Are you ok Naruto?" Bella inquired worriedly. For days now she noticed the blonde's pensiveness and stoic demeanor, not trying to crack a joke nor prank his siblings who even purposely opened up the opportunity for him to do so.

"I'm ok Bella." Naruto said in calm and gentle voice, along with a smile that transparently conveyed a trickle of nostalgic sadness and mortal longing. It isn't the first time Bella asked him this question. But every time she did, the blonde gave him the same reply and the same sad smile.

Bella knew that Naruto only opted to work on the said shop thinking that making himself busy would hopefully distract him from the pain of seeing his friends and comrades once again perish; and this time from his own hands.

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Few more uneventful days have swiftly passed but it would seem that time wasn't kind enough to assuage Naruto's melancholy and indeed the only respite he had from the bone sheering loneliness are the free ramen coupons that he always find mysteriously strapped in between his car's wiper and windshield after class.

On a particularly fair weathered afternoon the shinobi decided to spend the day alone, deep within the forest, with only six pack of beer for company. Then on his glum musing, he felt a looming presence lurking around the dark part of the woods.

"You might as well come out now. Whatever you are." He then said in a deathly stern tone, and with glaring eyes.

Then from the gloom a pair of iridescent blue eyes shined like scintillating demonic gems, prompting Naruto to draw a kunai and fall back in to a defensive stance.

"Hey there friend. I see you're quaffing on some liquid courage….mind if I have sip." The mysterious stranger then spoke in an unctuous and overly friendly tone, somehow reminding the shinobi of Ned Flanders from The Simpsons.

"Who are you?" Naruto inquired calmly, though preparing for the worst.

"It's just me." The stranger stepped out in to the light revealing himself to be Alex Storm. "We go to the same school…remember?" He then continued while beaming a friendly smile towards the blonde.

"You got lot of nerve showing your face after that shit you pulled at the janitor's closet you diabolical little son of a…." Naruto said indignantly but was cutoff before he could utter anymore word."

"Let's not go towards that direction….I'm not here to pick a fight, it's quite the opposite really." Alex said tranquilly.

"What do you want then huh? Speak up pretty boy before I lose my patience and kick your ass so hard, your nose will bleed." Naruto eyed the young man suspiciously, not letting his guard down.

"Ok here it goes. I just want to say that I'm sor…..sorr….sorrrr" Alex tried to apologize for what he did but seemingly cannot pronounce the word 'sorry' and was only able to weirdly gabble a sound akin to that of a dog choking on a bone. "Sor…..rrrrr...reeeeey" He then continued in an even more awkward gargling sound as if he was about to vomit, making Naruto grimace.

"You mean sorry….you meant to say sorry right?" Naruto rolled his eyes then awkwardly suggested with a deadpan expression on his face no longer able to stand the young man's pathetic and unsatisfying attempts to make an apology.

"Yes that's the word" Alex said flatteringly, scratching the back of his head while chuckling in a peculiar manner.

Naruto didn't say a word but glared at the young man harshly, not buying the latter's sudden admission of guilt.

"Look for what it's worth, I'm sorry…for everything." Alex sighed then apologized sincerely. "Though to be fair you did force me to utilize deception back there at the janitor's closet." He then mumbled furtively though Naruto caught every word.

"Reeealllyy." Naruto said in a mockingly skeptical tone "So what's with the sudden change of heart?" he then smirked sarcastically while raising a doubtful brow.

"Well, because I like you….." Alex tried to explain but was cutoff.

"I don't do other dudes." Naruto said with an impassive face.

"As a friend…..I like you as a friend, okay." Alex brow furrowed trying to elucidate what he was trying to imply. _"Try to let me finish next time…jeez."_ He then thought while outwardly extending his hand to Naruto. "So, truce?" he continued amicably.

Naruto grabbed the young man's hand then quickly pinned him on a nearby tree, pointing the edge of his kunai on the latter's throat. "I will trust you this time but if you do anything stupid in my town I will fuck you up." He then issued a stern warning while glaringly looked Alex eye-to-eye.

"Yeah, that came out so wrong on so many levels." Kurama grimaced then face-palmed himself inside of Naruto's head.

"Uhmm…I thought you don't do other guys?" Alex then muttered naively. "I'm sure you're a very nice guy and all but….well.…you're not exactly my type. Though, don't get me wrong. I'm not a homophobe or anything…In fact, I think a bit of harmless experimenting is somewhat…ughh…healthy?" He then continued the awkward babbling, making both of them very uncomfortable.

"Say what now?" Naruto confusedly muttered in an elongated cadence and with a comically blank expression on his face.

"Fine…I'll do it…I'm in. But please keep this between the two of us….I've never really been with another guy you know…it's a bit embarrassing to admit but this would actually be the first time I'll be with anyone else for that matter really…I…I've always pictured my first to be with Bella…on our wedding night. But beggars can't be choosers I suppose." Alex sheepishly muttered, awkwardly cracking a jest at the end of his sentence then apprehensively laughing at it to try and assuage the situation but to no avail. He then nervously and somewhat hesitantly started to unzip his fly and raise his shirt, exposing the lower half of his washboard abs.

"What the…No! I don't mean it like that ya'know. What I meant was that I will kill you if you make a mess in my town. I won't even be creative about it. I'll just go to your house and rip your head off." Naruto then hysterically clarified his previous threat.

"Oh, yeah of course…agreed." Alex blushingly and shamefacedly concurred, quite embarrassed about the awkward misconception.

"You bet your ass I will." Naruto menacingly reinforced his warning only to realize that what he just said sounded very much like another innuendo.

For reasons quite elusive to grasp and comprehend both boys then started to chuckle heartily; finding the sheer awkwardness of it all to be laughable.

"Weirdos" Kurama scoffed then looked away.

"So if it's all the same to you can I have a beer now?" Alex asked politely and in an friendly manner.

"Wait….aren't you too young to be drinking?" Naruto said in a suspicious voice; grinning like a sly fox, utilizing subtlety to indirectly achieve his goal. _"I know this bastard is centuries older than what he's letting everyone on. Let's see if I can make him admit it."_ He then thought cunningly while perusing the young man.

"Same could be said to you and yet here we are." Alex replied cheekily, looking at Naruto with eyes that reflected the shrewd and twisted wisdom of an entity that predated the dawn of mankind. _"Well, I'm technically nine hundred sixty five million five hundred twenty thousand and seventeen years old to be precise but he doesn't have to know that."_ He then thought as he covertly scanned Naruto's mind in order to avoid another embarrassing misapprehension.

"Piss off!" Naruto scoffed.

"Fine, I have to get going anyway." Alex sighed.

"Hey kid!" Naruto said as he fetched a can of beer to Alex as the latter was about to walk away.

"Yay" Alex said like an excited child as he caught the beer can. He then quickly opened it and took a big gulp.

" _Gotcha!"_ Naruto thought as he furtively sniggered seeing the awkwardly grossed out expression on Alex's face before the young man spat the 'beer' as quickly as he sipped it.

"This beer…..this beer…..it tastes like bloody cat piss! Smells like one too!" Alex horrifyingly and hysterically exclaimed, about to puke while comically wiping his tongue with his handkerchief.

"Why Alex…whatever do you mean?" Naruto said unctuously. There's a strange cadence in his voice as if holding back a roaring laughter, barely able to keep up a straight face. _"Now we're even punk!"_ He then thought, smiling secretly with the pride and air of a superior prankster.

Before he passed the can, Naruto cleverly utilized his newly acquired ability, **Creation of All Things Technique** , to change its contents from premium-lager to cat urine.

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(Forks High School – The Next Day)

The bell rang and it was lunch. Though Edward can't help but notice Bella's ponderousness during the entire course of biology.

"Is something wrong Bella?" Edward inquired as they walked through the corridors, heading towards the school cafeteria.

"No, everything's fine…it's just…" Bella replied but hesitated to finish her statement, fearing to cross an invisible line if she continued.

"It's just?" Edward echoed the last part of Bella's sentence, silently reassuring her that it's ok.

"Well. I'm worried about Naruto. He has been acting strange since 'the thing' happened a few weeks ago. I understand how he feels like but it's making me a bit worried about him." Bella then conveyed her anxiety to Edward as they approached the thresholds of the cafeteria.

"You don't have to worry about him." Edward smirked. "Look" He then said, pointing at the table where Naruto and the other Cullens sat.

Bella then saw the shinobi jovially waving at them like an excited child. "I'm glad he's much better now." She smilingly muttered that made Edward smile as well as they walked towards them.

"Hey guys what took you so long?" Naruto queried with a wryly expression on his face that was suggesting an inquiry of different nature.

"Pervert" Edward commented inaudibly though Naruto was able to read his lips.

"Hey! I'm not a pervert!" Naruto vehemently denied in protest of Edward's allegation. "Speaking of pervert, there's tweedleperve over there with his friends…but I wonder where tweedledork is." He then continued with a ponderous humming as he saw Mike with Eric and Tyler but couldn't spot Alex.

"Tweedledork huh?" Jasper said grinning mischievously along with the rest of his siblings, as if there's something they know that Naruto don't.

"Is there something I should know?" Naruto inquired with a tilted face, perplexed. _"And what's up with the creepy smiles?"_ He then thought uncomfortably.

"Don't you mean studmuffin?" Emmett chuckled in a roaring belly laugh that made Rosalie giggle as well.

"What's going on? Is there something I don't know here?" Naruto said suspiciously while his face was etched with both confusion and slight unease.

"You don't have to hide it Naruto….I think what you two have is special." Alice said gently though she found it difficult to conceal her amusement.

"I don't understand." Naruto said with a blank expression on his face.

"Alice had a vision of you and your secret boyfriend emerging from the forest happy and contented….well, you look so much happier and contended than him at least." Edward recounted with wryly smile what he saw in Alice's mind when she had the said vision.

"He must have been too rough on the poor boy when they made love." Rosalie whispered to Alice which the latter concurred with a contemplative nod as if deep in thought with regards to the details her clairvoyant gifts have missed out.

Out of shock Bella accidentally spat the soda she's drinking on Edward's face. "So that thing at the janitor's closet with him…it wasn't an accident? Was it?" She then inquired gaspingly, suspiciously pointing Naruto involuntarily out of bewilderment.

"Janitor's closet?" Rosalie echoed, shocked and confused. Like the rest of the Cullens a confounded countenance was etched on her face from the effects of Naruto's mind wiping genjutsu.

Though deep in their subconscious minds the Cullen kids felt a strange familiarity with regards to Bella's statement as if they were there but couldn't remember any details about it, only vague and dubious images that they have formerly dismissed as a product of stray thoughts.

"Hah! I knew it!" Emmett exclaimed, teasing Naruto, making everyone in the cafeteria turn their attention to them. Deep inside him he felt a strange sensation, a sort of déjà vu rather that was gnawing deep within his subconscious mind like a deeply buried memory he couldn't access.

"You could trust us. Please don't be stingy on the details." Bella teased the blonde who was currently staring blankly and vacantly in to the air.

"What the hell!" Naruto exclaimed as he came back to his senses. "It's not what you think! That's not what happened." He then continued hysterically, denouncing the assertions of his siblings.

"Come on Naruto. We will always accept you and love you for what you are. Don't be embarrassed" Rosalie said gently that was totally uncharacteristic her making the shinobi cringe.

" _You know things are really bad when she acts all kindly and stuff."_ Naruto awkwardly thought while shivers ran through his spine.

"Though don't let Leah find out about it lover boy or….." Jasper said in barely controlled mirth but was cutoff.

"Or she'll rip your nuts off dude!" Emmett continued the sentence in a boisterous manner after which he and Jasper high-fived each other.

"I said that's not what happened...shut up…shut up all of you!" Naruto exclaimed hilariously as he childishly stick his tongue out and gave everyone an even more childish akanbe, making them laugh even harder out of amusement.

Suddenly, amidst all the awkward merriment Naruto was suddenly silent. "Old man sage?" He then muttered in a serious voice as he ephemerally felt the presence of the Sage of Six Paths

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(Port Angeles)

Naruto and Leah decided to meet at their favorite ramen house in Port Angeles. The latter was assuaged for the shinobi seemed happy and ecstatic when he called her earlier that day but was suddenly perplexed, finding him a bit blue and a little bit down as they met.

"Is there something wrong Naruto?" Leah queried the blonde seeing how he barely touched his miso ramen. "Is it about that thing?" She then continued with a follow up question. Inquiring if the shinobi still feels desolated from his past altercation with Sasuke and Sakura.

"No. It's not about it." Naruto said in a low voice. "It's just….it's just" he then sighed, unable to finish his statement.

"Yes?" Leah said in a gentle voice, ushering him to continue.

"It's just I'm having a bad day." Naruto exclaimed then comically dropped his head down the wooden countertop in front of him.

"Want to tell me all about it?" Leah smiled amicably, trying to console Naruto.

"Nah…it's no big deal or anything ya'know" Naruto said with a superficially jovial voice but deep inside he was anxious and the qoute _'she will rip your nuts off'_ incessantly played inside his head. "Damn it Emmett!" He then muttered to himself.

"Are you sure?" Leah said with a mystified expression on her face as she observed the strange way Naruto was acting.

"Yeah. I'm good." Naruto laughed nervously then started slurping his ramen.

Leah knew that there was something bothering the blonde but opted to respect his privacy and dropped the issue altogether, knowing that he'll share it to her when he's ready. " Naruto?" She then said in a low voice.

"Yeah." Naruto replied comically with a mouth full of ramen noodles that made Leah wince a bit.

"Uhmm maybe you should swallow that first." Leah said in a voice that was beginning to be overtaken by a slight annoyance.

"Oh yeah… sorry." Naruto sheepishly apologized then with one big gulp swallowed all the food in his mouth. "Ugh you're saying something." He then continued.

"You see my mom is…well…she wants to meet you. She's inviting you to have dinner with us, this Wednesday." Leah said, making Naruto's eyes widen from surprise.

"Whaaaaaat?" Naruto uttered in an elongated cadence with a bewildered tone while his mouth was wide agape. He knew that the Quileute don't take him and the Cullens too keenly, so for one of them to actually invite him in to home for dinner is indeed quite perplexing and counterintuitive.

"So? Can you come?" Leah encouraged the blonde with hopeful eyes.

"Yeah. Sure" Naruto uttered compliantly with a rigid smile and vacant stare.

"Thanks. It really means a lot to me." Leah said jovially then hugged Naruto.

" _What the heck did I just got in to?"_ Naruto thought pensively, staring blankly in to the air while Leah was jubilantly hugging him.

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Two days have passed and it was Wednesday. The day Naruto dreaded, the day of Sue's dinner invitation which he was hesitant to accept but feared to decline. The shinobi found the anxious feeling to be quite puzzling. He has been in countless battles with enemies that could flatten a an entire village with a single jutsu, enemies that could change their form in to horrific monstrosities, (and though oblivious about it) he even threatened the most dangerous of outer-gods face to face on numerous occasions and lived to tell the tale; but being introduced to his future in law was a different story. His blood ran sluggishly through his veins and felt a trepidation he has never experienced before, emanating as pale and mottled pallor on his cheeks.

"How do I look?" Naruto, wearing a formal attire, anxiously queried to the rest of the Cullens.

"You look ravishing" Esme replied in a soft voice, trying to boost Naruto's confidence.

"You're sweating like a pig." Rosalie commented bluntly making the rest of the coven look at her sullenly. "What? It's true." She then shrugged.

"Jeez…thanks Rosalie. That was a real confidence booster." Naruto then let out a sigh. As much as he hates it, he knew that Rosalie was telling the truth.

"Just relax Naruto. I know you'll do great there." Esme then said with a gentle voice in encouragement. Her kind words assuaged Naruto's anxiety. "Oh look at you…you look so handsome. I'm so proud." She then said maternally making the rest of the Cullen's, especially Edward, snigger.

A little while later Naruto arrived at Leah's house. He then got off his car with a 1855 Chateau Margaux on one hand. Taking a deep breath he gathered all his courage and knocked on the door. It was Seth who opened the portal of their house and seeing that Naruto was on the other side the expression on his face turned deadpan with a trace of brewing annoyance and a splash of loathing for the blonde.

"Hey there guy….is Leah around?" Naruto greeted uncomfortably with an awkward smile on his face.

"Just shut it and come in." Seth said impassively.

"Naruto is that you?" Leah said as she walked towards the door wearing an apron, obviously cooking something.

"Hey Leah." Naruto greeted jovially.

"Oh…..you're wearing a tie? …and you combed your hair." Leah commented, astonished and amused to see the usually rugged blonde in formal attire and his wild main was combed back slickly like any respectable gentleman.

"Yeah. First time for everything I suppose. May I come in?" Naruto chuckled politely, scratching the back of his head from the awkwardness of it all.

"Oh, sure, come in…come in." Leah said in an equally awkward manner as she welcomed Naruto inside their house. "Just feel comfortable over there okay." She continued as she ushered the blonde in to the living room.

"Just feel comfortable over there okay….pfff" Seth sniffed as he mockingly echoed his sister's hilariously exuberant reaction.

"Be nice." Leah admonished, snarling scarily that made his brother cringe then grimace back.

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The dinner went surprisingly well. Sue found Naruto to be an interesting character and quickly warmed up to him while Seth remained aloof and cold, and eyed the shinobi quite darkly.

"This wine's amazing. What vintage was it again?" Sue inquired as she sipped the red vintage Naruto brought.

"Oh it's a Chateau Margaux 1855 vintage." Naruto said ecstatically with a broad smile.

"Fancy." Sue complimented smilingly. "But are you sure you're old enough to be drinking this?" She then playfully teased the shinobi a little.

"I bet he's older than that wine." Seth muttered, scowling.

"Seth!" Both Sue and Leah said simultaneously in a hissing voice in reprimand of the young shape shifter's comment.

"Sorry about that Naruto." Leah said in a low voice, trying to console Naruto and hoping that the blonde wasn't offended by his brother's soliloquy.

"No…that's quite ok." Naruto chuckled magnanimously.

Suddenly a serious expression emanated from Leah and Seth's face, and Naruto felt that someone's outside. They then heard the reverberating knockings on the door that was like thunder from a portentous storm beating upon their senses.

"It's Sam." Leah muttered fearfully.

Hearing this, Sue felt a bit of unease for trouble is indeed an uncomfortable possibility if Naruto and Sam were to meet. She then went for the door and opened it, explaining to Sam that they have a guest and she would appreciate it if he would get along with him at least for an interim. Surprisingly, Sam concurred calmly and he and Emily ingresses the Clearwater's abode.

As the couple walked towards the dining table, Leah then saw her cousin since the first time she shifted in to wolf form and beheld the latter's right face that was scarred from hairline to chin by three thick, red lines, which were vivid in color though they were long healed. She was dumbfounded and couldn't utter a word for she felt terrible about it, and most of all she felt horrible for inflicting it.

Then Emily approached Leah with a gentle smile on her face and greeted her, apparently not holding any grudge or anger but was excited to see her cousin and best friend once more.

Leah then stood up from where he sat and hugged Emily ardently as she tearfully apologized to her over and over, even though the latter assured her that it was ok and there's nothing to apologize.

Naruto then stood up and approached the two girls, prompting Sam and Seth to assume defensive stance and glaringly snarl at him "It's ok. I promise I won't hurt her." The shinobi assured as a cloak of chakra emanated from his body like he was being engulfed by golden flames.

Naruto then placed his hand on Emily's scarred face and channeled his Six Path Sage chakra. Before anyone could react, everyone in the room saw how the scars fade like ebbing tides and how the latter was restored to her former beauty.

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(Cullen's Residence – Later that Night)

Naruto lie comfortably on his bed as he thanked the stars for his good fortune. The dinner went better than expected and he left a good impression on Sue; also, he is now on a more cordial terms with the Quileute shape-shifters that was formerly hostile to him and his family; but most of all he saw how happy Leah was, being set free from the guilt that she carried in her conscience for the longest time.

The shinobi then felt tired and drowsy, he closed his eyes and let himself drift in to the reenergizing splendor of a well-deserved rest.

All of sudden, Naruto found himself in a dark and eerie environment. The only thing breaking the silence was the sound of what seemed to be falling drops of water that was like a somber requiem of desolation. He felt the unseen currents flow through his body as if he was lying still, drifting on a shadow hidden river.

"This all feels familiar." Naruto muttered to himself in a low voice that was only audible to him.

"Naruto" A familiarly astute voice called his name.

"Old man sage…..is that you?" Naruto gasped as he recognized the voice. He then quickly stood up on his feet and saw the Sage of Six Paths in front of him.

"It has been a while my son." Hagoromo greeted Naruto with a gentle voice and in the same manner as he would've greeted his son, Asura.

"It has been a while indeed…..wait, what are you doing here? I thought you said you were banished from this sphere?" Naruto inquired with a confounded countenance on his face.

"We must not waste time Naruto. An opportunity presents itself to rid this world of evil." The sage said in a sagacious voice with a trace of urgency in it.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked for clarification as he found the statement quite bewildering.

"Listen well Naruto….every two hundred million years, a phenomenon called the _convergence_ occurs. During which the dimensional barrier between the infinite multiverse becomes paper thin, and Errealth, the dark god responsible for the destruction of the elemental nations and the deaths of uncountable millions slumber in order to replenish his power by feeding on the unfathomable energies of countless infantile universes, killing them on the process. You must destroy him before he awakens." The sage elucidates sagaciously in a calm voice.

"But how?" Naruto asked, still dazed from the sudden revelation.

"I must admit it is an almost insurmountable quest. Errealth is powerful beyond comprehension that he's extremely dangerous even if asleep. You must supplicate the help of the others of his kind in order to accomplish the task." Hagoromo said ponderously, as if something was bothering him.

"Nyarlathotep." Naruto gaspingly muttered, having a strange ominous feeling about it.

"Yes. You must summon him in to this world and enlist his help." Hagoromo replied to Naruto with an austere voice.

"Are you sure gramps….I mean, one outer-god is trouble enough, let alone two." Naruto said with a hesitant voice, uncomfortable if such a plan would work.

"You must do it Naruto….before it's too late." Hagoromo urged strongly as he slowly disappeared in to the blackness until nothing of him remained.

Naruto then awakened from the dream and saw the sun rising; confounded and unsure of what he'll do next.

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For the rest of the day Naruto sat on the zenith of a towering tree while staring stoically in to the Calawan River, his chin resting on his hand as he pondered deeply and weighed the possible repercussions of his would be action. Finally the sun was setting and the image of his friends and everyone from Konoha flashed inside his head as the warm and golden rays shimmered on his skin. At that very moment the shinobi has made a decision to end the tyranny of the dark deity, to risk it all in order to avenge his fallen comrades and friends.

Naruto knew only one literary reference where the necessary dark arcane knowledge to summon Nyarlathotep could be found. In a flash he then **Hiraishined** himself to Miskatonic University where he convened with his old friend Dr. Arthur Parker, the head librarian of Orne library and the grandson of his old archeology mentor.

"Naruto….what a pleasant surprise. What brings you here? Ahh I bet you have some interesting artifacts for me." The surprised Dr. Parker greeted Naruto ecstatically while at the same time hoping that the shinobi has some interesting archeological find.

"Hey there Arthur." Naruto greeted back. "Hey. I was wondering. Would you mind if I can take a look and perhaps borrow your grandfather's journal?" He then said calmly, stating his purpose in a gentle voice.

"My friend, you know that thing's esoteric contents aren't meant for us mere mortals. It contains such evil that has almost shattered your sanity the last time." The old librarian tried to dissuade Naruto in fear of what malevolence the said journal could unleash this time around.

"Arthur, I need you to do me a solid here…..trust me." Naruto practically pleaded that compelled the old librarian to concede.

"I would advise against it but very well." Dr. Parker sighed in compliance to the blonde's request. "But if I may ask….what do you endeavor to obtain from that journal." He then inquired curiously.

"I'm just doing this research." Naruto lied. He knew that the old librarian will never agree on what he's intending to do with the maleficium contained within the journal's pages.

Hesitantly, Dr. Parker took out the journal within a hidden compartment inside his office and handed it to Naruto. "I hope you know what you're doing." He then said to the blonde in a somber voice, counseling him to think about it twice and reconsider what he's about to do.

"Don't worry. I'm doing this for all of us." Naruto said with a vague and somehow unsure smile as he bid his farewell to his old friend.

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It would seem that summoning Nyarlathotep in to this world is no easy task. The summoning ritual needs to be performed on a certain hour of the day under a certain constellation, and required offerings that were both expensive and exorbitantly difficult to obtain, such as a prescription of unholy incenses wrought out of frankincense and myrrh from which respective trees grew from the blood drenched soil where a violent battle was fought and countless has died.

Nonetheless, with the aid of his shadow clones and by utilizing his considerable power, Naruto was able to gather such appurtenances in no time to conduct the dark ritual.

Then in the hour of Jupiter, under the star Achernar, Naruto began to draw the requisite circles of power along with the cryptic glyphs and pre-human runes that were blasphemous to utter and hold dominion over the nether powers of heaven and hell.

Standing within the centermost of the said circles the shinobi then lit the thuribles that contained the prescribed incense, and read aloud the incantations necessary for the summoning. Intonating the dark spells of rhythmically measured words in a strange tongue accompanied by the sprinkling, at regular intervals, of blood and black oils that fell with a great hissing on the coals in the braziers and sent up enormous clouds of multi-hued smoke that serpentine in to the air.

The fumes of the censers, blue and white and violet, arose in thick clouds and speedily filled the room with ever-writhing interchanging columns, among which the light disappeared and was succeeded by a wan unearthly glow, pale as the light of moons that ascend from the underworld.

Like thronging phantoms, writhing and swirling with malignant life, the now interweaved vapors rose higher and higher, transforming in to a hueless mist that came down from the high roof and hid the room like a fallen curtain for a brief interim.

Then the mist cleared away, as if the folds of a curtain had been drawn back. But the pale unearthly glow still filled the chamber and as Naruto lift his head he saw that he was no longer in the room but was amidst the infinite cosmos. He saw the blackness of the void and felt the cold of space while stars passed under him in a giddying gulf.

Suddenly, two titanic entities appeared and the air curdled about him with their voices, and rime gathered palely on the shinobi's golden hair from the cold that was wrought by their breathing as they leaned earthward. Unfazed, Naruto continued his chant. His voice mounted and fell as if in some unholy paean. Imperious, exigent, he seemed to implore the consummation of forbidden blasphemies.

As he finished intonating the last words of the dark incantation the entities were then obliterated completely and geysers of black liquid erupted from their swiftly disintegrating bodies. Then from the dark, viscous and miasmic tarry slime emerged Nyarlathotep. Appearing as an ambiguous humanoid blob which transformed in to a tall, slim, olive skinned man in his late thirty's.

He was wearing a glossy dark suite over a shadowy crimson under blazer and a black monochromatic tie giving him the impression of a shrewd businessman. But there was something in him that gave such regal quality; as if he was from an old native blood from a long line of ancient Egyptian pharaohs.

He has slick jet black hair which he wore in a long phony tail, and possesses eyes that were mind shattering to behold and were like the shadow image of evil souls; his irises were black instead of white and the pupils in it were also black but of a deeper and more sinister shade.

"Insignificant mortal….why have you summoned me?" Nyarlathotep then spoke haughtily in an imperiously echoing voice, demanding the cause of his invocation.

Naruto was completely distraught and couldn't utter any word as he felt the overwhelming foulness flowing from the deity.

"Well? Speak up lowly one." Nyarlathotep then once again inquired, this time in a voice that was ominous and exigent.

Coming back to his senses and fed up from the outer god's arrogance, Naruto then spoke in his usually boisterous voice and formality unheeding tone. "Yo' let's get one thing straight over here. First, I am not your dog ya'know, you're mine so you can cut the crap. Second, I'm gon'na kick your nephew's ass! Any problem with that?"

 **End**

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 **Hey there folks!**

 **I hope you enjoyed reading! And I hoped you guys had an awesome holiday!**

 **Anyways, in this chapter I tried to write a good balance between the storytelling elements and hopefully I was able to smoothly transition the story from funny, to serious, to dark, and so on. Please tell me what you think about it. And oh yeah, there will be some more plot twisters on the subsequent chapters.**

 **See you awesome people on the next chapter.**

 **Cheerio :)**


	15. Chapter 15: Children of the Gods

"I'm gon'na kick your nephew's ass! Any problem with that?" Naruto said boisterously and with an equally nonchalant grin on his face.

Nyarlathotep calculatingly looked at the shinobi before speaking condescendingly with a resonating voice. "You have guts, I'll tell you that much. However, I can't quite decide if you are truly courageous or just a clueless fool who doesn't have any grasp of reality. Frankly, I'm leaning towards the latter supposition."

"You have no idea how many people made that mistake in the past." Naruto retorted menacingly, not letting his guard down and not letting the outer-god see any weakness.

Nyarlathotep however was able to sense fear in the shinobi quite easily. He then grinned evilly and spoke again in a voice that was foreboding and deep, and twisted. "Try not to be so full of yourself lesser one. Your fellow earthlings may behold you as a god but to us you are just an inconsequential insect waiting to be squashed. Just because you've managed to defeat a few of my nephew's pathetic minions do you really think you are on par with their master? Errealth is just playing. He sees the stars, the galaxies, along with entire universes, and indeed the very fabric of reality itself as his plaything, to be poked, prodded, ripped and tightly bound to his will so that he might squeeze out every last delight there is to enjoy. If he would ever to get even slightly serious you wouldn't even see your world burn for you shall be obliterated where you stand, before you could open your mouth to brag. If you provoke him he will not hesitate to wipe you and your kind from existence with a single thought, without even expending any noticeable effort at all. I have seen it…I have seen him destroy with ease others of our kind that are vaster and orders of magnitude far more powerful than you are."

"That's why I have summoned you. I need your help to destroy him." Naruto sighed heavily then finally admitted his purpose.

"My help?" Nyarlathotep once again grinned shrewdly. Tilting his head, he then cunningly eyed the blonde. "And why should I help you Naruto?" He continued, seemingly unwilling or indifferent to vouchsafe any succor. "Die quickly, that is my only advice."

"To save your own skin." Naruto replied impassively as he raised his head that made Nyarlathotep's brow furrow, and has put a displeased expression on his face as if in deep loathing that the truth came out from the lips of (what he considers) a lower being.

"Hmm….You are not as foolish as I first thought. Indeed, there is truth in those words. Once Errealth awakens he will have enough power to challenge, defeat and subsume Yoog-Sothoth. Combined with his father omniscience, the brat will be able to access the higher facets of his power and obtain unparalleled might and become an unstoppable force, save for one. But that wouldn't last long for surely he'll set his sight on Azathoth next, and will attempt to assimilate the creator god himself." Nyarlathotep said with unctuous solemnity.

Deep inside, Nyarlathotep was indignant of the blonde's impudence and he wanted nothing more but to put the insignificant mortal in his place and utilize his divine power to vibrate the latter's body until it vaporize in to a crimson mist, however, his more cunning nature superseded his blood lust. Like a shrewd businessman, he knew that an irksome situation such as this could be turned to serve his own end.

"What will happen if he does?" Naruto apprehensively queried.

"Not good. He will either succeed and obtain ultimate power or fail and awaken Azathoth from his slumber. Either of which will result in to an irredeemable catastrophe." Nyarlathotep ponderingly muttered with a mirthless expression on his face.

"What do you mean?" Naruto inquired; bewildered by the possible consequences of both scenarios.

"If Azathoth is successfully subsumed; Errealth will be the new creator and destroyer god; the one-supreme being with the power to enforce his will upon any and all of creation. He will ravage and corrupt space and time, and decimate the infinite multiverse itself with his foul and unnatural touch, and no one will be able stop him for his already unlimited power will become incalculable and incomprehensible, even to us. In other words he will be completely and absolutely omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. Nyarlathotep loathingly said in a tranquil but mirthless tone. "However, if Azathoth is awakened then Errealth will be destroyed."

Naruto was stilled and his blood curdled as he heard the revelation and couldn't utter any reply nor form any logical thought.

"Don't be too happy yet." Nyarlathotep smirked demonically, snuffing the last of the shinobi's hope. "If Azathoth is to awaken, the insignificant troubles of the multiverse would be replaced by an unimaginably horrifying and hostile environment in a single instance of madness, chaos, and hate. Because all of creation would go from Azathtoth's dream, to his will, and his will is a far worse thing than his dreams, which by human standards are quite horrifying enough…..so what are you going to do? Tell me, where is your much vaunted bravado now?" Nyarlathotep said with a smug and evil smile, taunting the shinobi of how insignificant the latter is compared to what he's up to.

"Dude your relatives are so messed up. I thought you and your nephew are the worst of them but apparently I'm wrong." Naruto quipped as he was finally able to come back to his senses and regain his usually exuberant demeanor, not letting himself and his mind be preyed upon by the outer god.

"Power is not the only thing Errealth inherited from his grandfather; he also inherited his cruelty, sadism and complete disregard for the lives of those lower than him. Verily, he finds great pleasure in seeing death and destruction." Nyarlathotep said, grinning.

Suddenly, Naruto noticed the bright sunlight from above and as he raised his face he then found himself in a familiar place, in Konoha. It would seem that the hidden village has somewhat underwent a technical revolution in his absence, being now dotted with a few skyscrapers, also, computers and cellphones has become common along with mass transit systems such as electric trains.

He then shifted his sight on to the Hokage Rock and saw that there were now seven faces carved on it; Kakashi and Hinata being the latest of which faces to be incorporated on the mountain side. "Whoa! Is this Konoha? Looks so different from when I left it. And Hinata is now the Hokage.…I can't believe this" Naruto said ecstatically. Being filled with tremendous joy he momentarily forgot the grave situation at hand, like teething troubles that has been ephemerally clouded by the euphoric inebriation of a strong wine.

"Ahh Konnoha, the strongest and most powerful of all the hidden villages….but not for long." Nyarlothotep said unctuously while a dark smile played evilly on his lips.

Then, out of sudden Naruto beheld a squadron of **Anbu** and other leaf shinobi hurled in to the air and was subsequently vaporized by bolts of reticulating lightning bolts.

"What's…..happening?" Naruto inquired, flummoxed. He was barely able to utter words from witnessing the sudden fiendish death of his comrades.

"Look" Nyarlathotep said with a thunderous voice as he flicked his finger causing them to be transported near the uproar.

Naruto froze and his back stiffened a little as he saw more leaf shinobi massacred with trivial ease by a yet obscured but immensely powerful adversary. Then as the antagonist turned to their direction, he beheld a familiar face.

"Is that….Alex?" Naruto mumbled in disbelief while a confounded countenance was etched on his face. "That bastard….I'm gon'na kill him!" He then exclaimed with overcompensating furry as the confusion converted itself to wrath.

"A distant ancestor." Nyarlathotep commented, seeing the enraged but baffled expression on Naruto's face he then once again expounded before the shinobi could ask. "Though Errealth can shape and re-shift his actual form and countenance, he prefers possessing a mortal when he decides to manifest himself on to the lower planes; letting his host's personality subtly influence his decisions in a twisted sense. He finds it to be….theatrical." He then continued. Though it would seem that Naruto missed the entire annotation altogether as the flaring odium in his heart flared and for a moment he was tempted and was about to give in to a feral berserker rage.

"Stop this now." Naruto hissed in a low but harsh voice that reflected his blistering anger and hate as he heard the countless voices cry out in fear, and then nothing but dripping stillness as he beheld in horror the owners of those voices dissolve and evaporate under fire of the intensely destructive beams coldly unleashed by Errealth with a nonchalant flick of his wrist.

"Oh but the show is far from over, there is yet much to see." Nyarlathotep exclaimed jovially, somewhat finding great pleasure in Naruto's torment.

Suddenly the skies darkened ominously and Naruto beheld how Errealth used his mentifery to rip a vortex in to the dreaming world and literally brought to life the worst nightmares of the elemental nation's denizens and unleashed it upon them. He saw the people pray desperately, supplicating the spirits, the deities and their ancestors to aid them in their plight but their prayers went unanswered for the collective power of their earthbound gods were no match for the morning-star's divine might.

Naruto then beheld the colossal beasts conjured by the latter; rearing terribly, they stridden down the sun like an extinguished ember. Rising higher and vaster they then charged towards Konoha. Deep, calamitous rumblings preceded them, and the earth shook visibly as the blonde was only able to watch in revulsion as the beasts trod and trampled the land of his birth. Their tremendous hooves descending like falling mountain crags, crushing the people beneath like grapes being stomped, leaving the earth reddened from endlessly cascading rivers of blood that were red as imperial vintages. Then the skies darkened once again, and this time in a more ominous black, snuffing the still remaining light and plunging everything in to a world of darkness; and from the stygian heavens rained destruction of crimson flames and pillars of azure lightning that blasted everything those who are below, living or in animate. The ground then portentously trembled and rumbled as if the entire continent is being torn and battered apart by descending macrocosmic fists, causing fissures to violently open and swallow both the living and the dead.

Seeing this, the shinobi stood taciturn and his whiskered cheeks was mottled with a strange pallor while his lips loosely mumbled as if in prayer or despair; his eyes then snapped in barely controlled rage as he saw Errealth playfully whispere something to the horrified Hinata while watching the destruction gleefully and with a blameless and innocent countenance on his face as if all the carnage he caused was just mere entertainment to him.

"Now I'm interested on what you'll do next." Nyarlathotep said in an oily tone and with a broadened demonic smile on his face.

"I'm gon'na stop him before he awakens…I'm gon'na stop him whatever it takes." Naruto said with a straight face and a clenched fist, causing the deity's smile to fade way.

For a while Nyarlathotep was taciturn while his lips were pressed together in a straight line as if in pondering. "Interesting." He said while rubbing his chin.

Naruto was about to speak but it would seem that the outer god cunningly knew what the he was about to inquire and has voluntarily furnished the information before he could ask. "While asleep my nephew unconsciously defends himself with his dreaming force that sporadically reform and reshape reality in the immediate proximity. To beings such as I, whose essence is power, it is a lethal poison that will destroy us the moment we go near him; to mortals, the sudden distortion of what is real and what is not is mind shattering but not outright fatal….Maybe someone like you, a mashed up version of both, would be able to survive long enough to kill him. I admire your courage, and I must admit I'm impressed. But are you indeed up to the task?"

"You know I am." Naruto replied impassively in a voice that was full of unyielding courage. "Now are you going to help me or not." He then continued in a serious and exigent tone.

Nyarlathotep pondered for a while, though convinced of Naruto's conviction, he was seemingly hesitant for if the shinobi fails he will have to face Errealth's wrath. "Hmmm….I think I shall trust you Uzumaki Naruto." He then made his choice, extending his hand.

Subsequently, crimson and black energies flared furiously above the outer-god's palm, opening a pocket dimension from which emerged a sinisterly looking dagger. It's partially curved blade was seemingly fashioned from higher ethereal matter that merely looking at it is insanity inducing for the twelve-dimensional construct was totally incomprehensible to three-dimensional beings such as humans.

"Though one of the more powerful members of our kind, Errealth is still quite young and cannot yet control the full extent of his powers, thus he needs to sleep whenever he feed in order for his subconscious to regulate the astronomical amounts of energy he devours. Thrust this dagger on to him, it will focus all at once the unimaginable energies of the living universes he feeds upon causing a surge too mighty even for the bratty god of balance to endure, sundering him in to incalculable shards of smaller and less powerful fragments with a similar energy signature…effectively killing him. Nyarlathotep explained with philosophical solemnity to Naruto as he handed him the hypergeometric dagger."

"You who wield the weapon of my race….you who have been chosen to fulfill this task…do your duty….save us all." Nyarlathotep then said in a sharp, echoing voice as he dismissed the shinobi and fades away in to utter nothingness.

Like a dream that has been severed, Naruto found himself in the same locus prior to when he summoned the outer god, holding the super-dimensional blade in one hand.

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(Bella's House)

The night was seemingly colder than the past nights. In a deeply foreboding sense, it would seem that the temperature just decided to plummet without warning as if the malignant ice daemons have descended upon the earth from their abode within the frozen trans-Arctic crags.

Ominous chills ran from Bella's spine that made her feel creepy for it was uncanny. Ever since she witnessed the battle between Naruto and Sasuke, her perception of the world and its workings was forever changed for the gift of blissful ignorance that shielded her mind from the supernatural has been blown away like a flickering flame that has been extinguished by an overpowering gust.

Suddenly, Bella heard the sound of a stone hitting the side jamb of her window and decided to investigate. Upon looking down her window she then saw Jacob down looking back at her. From the looks of it he just transformed back to human from his wolf form. He was shirtless, exposing his well-defined body and ripped muscles which Bella found to be aesthetically pleasing.

"Jake?" Bella said with a confounded countenance in her face.

"Hey Bella, can I come in?" Jake greeted, somewhat sheepishly.

"Yeah…sure." Bella replied in a hollow voice and elongated cadence. Not sure herself if letting a half-naked boy inside her room is such a great idea.

"Okay stand back." Jake said smiling.

Bella did as instructed and stood aside from the window as Jake nimbly climbs to her room from the adjacent tree then entered through the window.

"Hi" Jake greeted again, awkwardly.

"Hey" Bella replied in an equally awkward manner with a vague smile on her face. "It's nice to talk to you again." She then continued. It has been quite a while since they had a conversation for Jacob seemingly avoided her since his first phasing in to wolf form and subsequent assimilation in to Sam's pack, and any attempt on Bella's part to communicate was ignored by the latter.

"Yeah…you too." Jacob sheepishly said along with an equally sheepish smile.

There was a moment of silence between the two, an awkward interim that was gnawing to both of their senses and has pitched in to an uncomfortable crescendo.

"Please stay away from him." Jacob broke the silence with a voice that was involuntarily erratic volume and awkward high-pitch.

"What?" Bella inquired with a confused countenance on her face.

"You must stay away from him Bella." Jacob sighed then uncomfortably reiterated, though in a much calmer voice.

"What are you playing at Jake? …..I was worried sick about you. You didn't bother to reply on my calls and you opted to ignore me altogether….and now, when you finally appear out of nowhere you decided drop a bomb on me!" Bella retorted, flummoxed and indignant. "What's wrong with you?" She then continued, disappointed.

"I just wanted to do this differently…smoother…but now I'm out of time." Jacob replied with a soft voice that elicited a confuse stare form Bella.

"Do what?" Bella inquired, bewildered.

"You need to hear the truth Bella. Understand all your options." Jacob said as he moved closer to Bella. "…and you need to know that I'm in love with you. And I want you to choose me instead of him." He then continued as he soulfully looked at her.

"I thought you understood. I don't feel that way for you." Bella replied and tried to reject Jacob as gently as she could.

"I don't buy it." Jacob retorted incredulously.

"What don't you buy?" Bella said looking at him "That's how I feel." She then continued.

"You feel something else for me. You just won't admit it. So, I'm not giving up. I'm gonna fight for you until your heart stops beating." Jacob said in a voice that was full of conviction, reflecting his feelings for Bella.

"Well, then you're not gonna have to fight for long." Bella tried to be nonchalant.

"You're rushing into it because you're afraid you'll change your mind."

"No, I'm not. I know what I want." Bella insisted. At this point their conversation was sounding more like an argument.

"You wouldn't have to change for me, Bella, or say goodbye to anyone. I can give you more than him. I mean, he probably can't even kiss you without hurting you." Jacob said, impassioned, as he place her hand over his chest. "Feel that? Flesh, and blood, and warmth." He then continued to kiss Bella ardently.

Both flummoxed and outraged, Bella pushed Jacob away and punched him in the face, only to hurt her fist for it was like punching a concrete wall. "Aww….god" Bella groaned in pain as she held her aching hand.

"Bella, I'm sorry…are you ok." Jacob apologized then worriedly inquired.

"Jake…I….please just leave." Bella said in a voice that seemingly reflected her disappointment with the shape-shifter.

"I'm sorry." Jacob muttered apologetically. However, as he was about to egress Bella's room through her window he saw Edward glaring darkly.

"Get down here." Edward hissed in a soft but deathly serious voice.

"Jake don't….I'll talk to him." Bella said nervously, trying to diffuse the situation. Her words however fell on to deaf ears for Jacob has already made his way down before she could further utter any protest. She then rushed down through the stairs while hoping that the two hasn't yet started to tear each other apart.

The moment Jacob's feet landed on the ground Edward was in his face. "If you ever touch her against her will again!" The vampire said, quite livid.

"Don't do this." Bella cried panting as she emerged from the portal of their house and rushed between the two.

"She's not sure what she wants." Jacob holds his ground from the angry vampire.

"Jacob, just go ok." Bella pleaded before the situation escalates.

"Hey, hey, hey, easy guys, easy, let's take it down a notch. Alright. What's going on?" Charlie suddenly emerged from out of the background. He was watching TV when he heard all the commotion.

"I kissed Bella." Jacob admitted.

Upon hearing this, the expression on Charlie's face was priceless. He was neither angry nor outraged of what Jacob has done but rather the contrary. "You finally did huh…well, good for you." He then thought making Edward roll his eyes.

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(Storm Residence)

Later that night, Naruto thereupon upon stood in front of the palatial residence of the Storms, then utilizing **Nehan Shōja no Jutsu** , he rendered uncontious the mortal guards and staff of the mansion.

As he stepped inside, Naruto encountered Lestat and Armand who tried to defend their master but the shinobi was easily able to overcome them. Then through his **Fūinjutsu,** the vampires were sealed away in one of the paintings that have accented the hallways of the lofty edifice.

As Naruto walked closer and closer to Alex's room an uncanny feeling crept inside him, and he felt the air suddenly become heavy and ominous, and his superhuman senses became less coherent. He could also sense that Kurama is in pain. This is so for the dreaming force unconsciously generated by Errealth interacts with the material plane in such a way, creating ripples in the fabric of reality that is quite pernicious to beings of energy such as the **Juubi**.

"Are you ok Kurama?" Naruto inquired, a bit worried.

"I'm alright kid. Just go on with it." Kurama replied in a gruff voice.

It would seem that Nyarlathotep wasn't exaggerating with his cautions for when Naruto opened the door he beheld how the concept of reality itself seemed to break down and shatter from the immense pressure of Errealth's dreaming force. Overwhelming the barrier between the material and the immaterial, the dark-god's dreams created a pocket universe within the young man's room that sucked the shinobi inside of it like a black hole.

Azure eyes snapped open and Naruto found himself in a bizarre realm. The shinobi packed all manner of contrivances to aid him on his quest, expecting to encounter legions upon legions of demonic guardians and semi-divine sentinels who would seek to tear him with their talons and fangs, and swords. He also assumed to find a hostile hell riddled with bastions and walls to bar his progress. To his surprise however for he found none. The land before him was open and pristine and would seem to be the very definition heaven.

With eyes adjusted to a new range of cognition, Naruto began to perceive the actual features of the landscape. He found himself standing on a million-flowered grass composed of living gold, among trees of a paradisal vegetation, with fruit, foliage, blossoms and trunks whose very forms were beyond the conception of three-dimensional life. The grace of their drooping boughs, of their fretted fronds, was inexpressible in terms of earthly line and contour, and they seemed to be wrought of pure, ethereal substance, half-translucent to the empyrean light, which accounted for the gem-like impression he had first received.

Naruto breathed a nectar-laden air, and the ground beneath him was ineffably soft and resilient, as if it was composed of some higher form of matter than of the mortal plane. His physical sensations were those of the utmost buoyancy and well-being, with no trace of fatigue or nervousness, such as might have been looked for after the unparalleled and marvelous events in which he had played a part. He felt no sense of mental dislocation or confusion; and, apart from his ability to recognize unknown colors and non-Euclidean forms, the shinobi began to experience a queer alteration and extension of tactility, through which it seemed that he was able to touch remote objects.

The radiant sky was filled with many-colored suns and infinitely glimmering diamond-like stars that strangely shone unhindered by daylight. But as he gazed, their glory became softer and dimmer, and the brilliant luster of the trees and golden grass was gradually subdued, as if by encroaching twilight. He was beyond surprised, in the boundless marvel and mystery of it all, and nothing perhaps, would have seemed incredible.

The thought of Naruto's original quest then began to fade in the face of such serenity; and a strong desire to rest his body and lay his back upon the golden grass, and bask before the astral bliss has firmly gripped his soul.

Then the image of Konoha's destruction flashed before his eyes that snapped the shinobi's volition back in to reality and reignited the rage that quickly became the dominant among his primal emotions. Through fierce determination the shinobi then inordinately expended much of his mental strength and fortitude with every stride, persevering to move away and ignore the blissful paradise.

Weary and beleaguered, Naruto then found himself on a dark forest. Soon, visions of unrequited love, of victories that never happened, and the ways that his life should've gone but didn't flashed unceasingly inside his head. The phantasmagoric hallucinations, along with dark thoughts and foreboding whispers from unseen voices began to slowly eat through his sanity. At this very moment the shinobi fretfully wondered the reality of his predicament, he began to question himself if he was indeed still on a quest to destroy Errealth, or have the outer-god's nascent dreams trickled in to his mind and invaded his consciousness, pushing him towards his eventual doom.

Enduring the torment no longer, Naruto charged blindly in desperate effort to elude the maddening illusions that gripped and distorted his mind in to madness. Running in to and past the dense cluster of majestic trees which housed a number of secluded glades.

The visions and the whispers then ceased. The sound baffling effect of the trees puts his mind in an introspective position. The long run gave him time to wonder. The glades are inviting and serene. In the center of each glade is a perfectly still pool that invited Naruto to sit and reflect upon his thoughts.

As he stared into the pool however, he recalls his accomplishments and dwells on what more he could achieve. The pool's glimmering surface it would seem doesn't only reflect his image but also caught glimpses of fears, miseries, and hopes made visually manifest; dreams and nightmares; histories real and imagined; potential futures; images of torment, ecstasy, and despair; and abstract thoughts made momentarily concrete as pictures in the water. Naruto reminisced that the effect was similar to that elicited by looking at the surface of the outer-god's crystalline high thrones (back when he perused the contents of Dr. Armitage's journal for the first time) but in a much more vivid and intensified degree, seemingly prompting the illusions to tore a hole in to reality and become a living, breathing nightmare.

Sitting there lost in thought, the undergrowth of the glade begins to creep in on Naruto.

" **Katon: Gōka Mekkyaku** " Naruto exclaimed as he quickly folded his hands in to seals, kneading chakra inside his body he then expelled from the mouth a massive fireball which covered a wide range and incinerated the infernal vegetation, who suddenly became alive and hostile, just before the thorny branches and vines rip at his flesh and choke the air from his lungs.

As if a scene from an unrelenting nightmare, the waters of the pool rose up and took the shape of Naruto then macabrely shriveled in to a decrepit skeletal form. The skeletal doppelganger then raised his shrunken claws and conjured a spinning **Ōdama Rasengan** , much to his surprise and horror.

Suddenly the skeleton sprang and lunged itself towards Naruto. Out of his befuddlement the shinobi came to a grim realization that the skeleton is a facet of his possible fate, a divergent specter of what should've been in the distant past or what might be in the very near future.

Though his mental processes were benumbed and painful, and confused to the last degree he was well aware that if he lost the fight his fate is sealed and he will take the skeleton's place, deep beneath the eldritch pool.

A massive explosion occurred as the spiraling ball of chakra impacted the ground, blasting away substantial amount of dirt and debris. The shinobi however remained unharmed as he was able to escape before the attack connected, jumping high in to the air.

While in mid-air, Naruto swiftly hurled a volley of specially marked kunai in every direction that will serve as his **Hiraishin's** access points while at the same time forming a **Rasenshuriken** on the other hand. "Have a little of this ugly!" he then exclaimed as he threw the screeching jutsu on the skeleton bellow.

The jutsu then greatly expanded, cutting trees and rocks alike, and disintegrating everything that within proximity of its wind element nucleus. Soon a rapidly whirling air sphere formed and the once serene forest was engulfed in chaos as the peculiar looking trees were blustered by the resulting violent gust.

However, Naruto was uncertain if his jutsu connected for skeleton was nowhere to be seen. Subsequently, the shinobi felt an ominous presence and as he turned his back he saw the skeleton behind, about to stab him with a jagged kunai.

" _What the hell!"_ Naruto thought in disbelief. He expected the skeleton to mimic his abilities including the **Flying Thunder God Technique** , but to do so without a specially marked technique formula is truly outstanding; as if the skeleton could home on his chakra and use it as an access point for the said jutsu.

The grisly blade was but mere inches away from his body when Naruto **Hiraishined** himself outof the way, manifesting near one of the kunai's he scattered beforehand. "A bag of scrawny bones? Is that all you got pretty boy!" He then exclaimed in a sardonic voice, as if in challenge to the sleeping outer-god.

Suddenly, Naruto felt an extreme fatigue he hasn't experienced in more than ten thousand years. It would seem that the strange realm or dream is causing an imbalance on his chakra and preventing Kurama from integrating the ten tails power in to the shinobi, limiting the jutsu's he could weave.

"Kurama are you sure you're alright?" Naruto inquired worriedly.

"I said I'm fine!" Kurama exclaimed in prideful roar and tried to be nonchalant but Naruto knew that the fox was in pain. Doubling his efforts, Kurama then managed to inordinately re-channel the **Juubi's** chakra back in to Naruto's chakra circulatory system.

"Hang in there buddy." Naruto muttered in a somber voice. He knew that Kurama is under immense strain of just maintaining stable chakra levels, he knew that he should finish the fight along with his mission as soon as he could.

Naruto then saw the skeleton charging towards him with incredible speeds, leaving afterimages as it moved sporadically.

"Let's do this."Naruto said in a serious tone then opened a scroll he took from a pouch on his flak jacket, and summoned a gleaming katana he forged from a special metal that absorbs chakra and exhibits power based on the user's technique. The aforementioned sword then blazed with azure glow as Naruto channeled his wind element chakra in to it.

With powerful yet graceful slashes he attacked the skeleton who countered by shaping localized **Shinra Tensei** wherever the blade was about to made contact. The skeleton's hollowed out eye sockets then glowed like flickering marsh fires as it cast a genjutsu upon Naruto which exerted a hallucinatory effect upon the latter's eyesight, temporarily (albeit effectively) blinding the shinobi.

"This jutsu…..it's the **Kokuangyo no Jutsu** …..a genjutsu developed by the Second Hokage." Naruto mumbled as he deduced the spell that afflicted him.

Though robbed of his vision, Naruto's other highly attuned senses however was able to perfectly picture the skeleton's movements like sonar. He heard its foot bones clicked sharply on the jewel like stones and viridian terra firma; and felt the nectar laden air warp from the fast moving chakra coated claws that was about to rip his throat.

In a fleeting moment of stillness Naruto let go of all his anxieties and focused solely on the unseen enemy. With a clear mind that engendered fluid movements, the shinobi calmly eluded the ferocious attacks of the skeleton then swung a single technically and spiritually perfect sword swing. Subsequently, Naruto's vision then returned to him and saw the skeleton lying on the ground, cleanly bisected from its cranium down to its coccyx.

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As Naruto continued his journey further in the second sphere of Errelth's dream, he found himself in a stunning but uncanny realm overlooking the ruins of a once grand and magnificent ancient city that is now plagued by a haunting silence from eons of being forsaken by its equally antediluvian denizens.

With sure strides he then passed hills filled with undulating grass fields on the interlude. The pleasingly textured grass was seemingly composed of iridescent crystals that reflected the hopes, dreams and mundane pleasures of every mortal being in existence and the secret hidden desires gleaned from the subconscious of those who gaze upon them as hues of infinite colors danced teasingly, refracting the empyrean beams that shined from the multiple suns illuminating the realm. On their lustrous and gleaming surface Naruto saw visions of him being the cherished Hokage of Konaha, along with marrying Hinata and start a family of their own; a happy family, full of love and joy, far from the dim and lonely childhood he experienced. It was indeed a powerful yet heartwarming sight, and the shinobi's eyes stayed fixed on the mesmerizing illusion as it sponged away his anxieties and replaced them with a bliss that was sweet and serene like no other. The thought of straying from the path came in to his mind unceasingly and battered his will like a powerful storm clouding his volition; he desired strongly to touch the glimmering grass in hopes that the images playing on its opalesque surface will be projected in to reality.

"Naruto no!" Kurama tried to warn the shinobi but it was too late, Naruto's flesh already made contact with the enticingly lustrous blade of a single grass.

Naruto then felt his heart race; his senses became extremely hypersensitive as the eldritch power behind the demonic vegetation opened his mind further than he thought possible. He could feel the soft blowing breeze on his skin; he could see the somnolent clouds changing forms and perceive the surrounding environment with a resolution beyond the comprehension of any other being; most of all, he heard the air as if it was singing softly to his ear. He was wooed by the shrill and starry sweetness of the hypnotic tune, and felt the voluptuous lure and the high vertiginous exaltation. The melody was piercingly sweet, and resembled at times the singing of some alluring feminine voice. However, no human voice could have possessed that unearthly pitch, the intoxicating, perpetually sustained notes that somehow suggested the light of remote worlds and stars translated into sound.

The emotional spell of the bliss has exerted itself within every fiber of the shinobi's being. There was a siren-like allurement which drew him on, forgetful of the strangeness and potential perils of his situation as Naruto felt a slow, drug-like intoxication of mind and senses.

"Snap out of it Naruto! Get a hold of yourself!" Kurama roared stridently to the tranced blonde but to no effect for the dream's promise of impossible splendors spun within Naruto's head exigently, snuffing the fox's voice.

Abruptly, the hypnotic ecstasy ceased, and the sweetness of the dream turned to ash. Naruto beheld how his hopes were snuffed and its remaining embers twisted in to horrific nightmares. With his stimulated senses and enhanced state of mind he felt a maddening crescendo of agony, desolation and torment that was beyond the normal spectrum of any human could experience. He saw how Konoha was destroyed and along with it his dreams, while the young man playfully ogled Hinata as the carnage ensued. He wanted to scream loudly in outrage and despair but neither voice nor sound came out of his mouth. The sensory overload of sadness, outrage and pain the shinobi felt was even further magnified and intensified by the dark powers of the realm, coalescing together in to a singular vortex of entropy that violently shook his mind and blasted away through his sanity.

Kurama then took it upon himself to rescue Naruto from the torpor of nightmarish illusions that has balefully drugged the latter. Accumulating massive amounts chakra, the fox then unleashed a disruptive wave inside of Naruto's body, breaking the hallucinatory spell that gripped him.

Trickle by trickle Naruto returned to his senses, his head was throbbing in pain as he struggled back to consciousness with slow, prodigious effort, as if he was crushed beneath an irremovable weight, beneath the lightless and inert debris of galaxies. It seemed to require the labors of giants to lift his lids, and his body and limbs were heavy, as if they had been turned to some denser element than human flesh, or had been subjected to the gravitation of a black hole.

"You good, Naruto?" Kurama inquired in a calm voice.

"Yes" Naruto replied with an unconvincing mutter as he lies on the dirt.

"Good." Kurama said in a gentle voice. "Now pick your shit up and do whatever it is you have to do you blonde dope!" He then continued with a sharp roar that startled Naruto back to his wits.

"That bastard!" Naruto then let out a cry of pure and undiluted anguish that echoed and reverberated in to the dream realm as he pummeled the ground with explosive power, leaving a large crater as the cloud of dust and dirt cleared out.

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Finally Naruto reached the third sphere. Horror and revulsion filled his brain as he saw and realized that the surreally dead city was actually Konoha. But the assault on his already weakened sanity didn't end there, as soon as he walked closer, he beheld that the outer walls of the city was constructed from quadrilateral crystal sarcophagi stacked upon each other like bricks.

Things went from bad to worse as he realized that the corpses entombed within the transparent crystal cists were not only his friends but also every shinobi he ever knew. They remained uncorrupted, projecting an illusion of life as they seemed to be only in a state of deep slumber, eternally dreaming.

With inordinate mental exertion, he willed himself to walk passed the macabre wall and saw the remnants of the leaf village. The houses and building have been crushed and many were flattened, the ground has been burnt black by the effulgent pillars of lightning and the searing bolts of crimson flame, and the faces carved on the Hokage rock was barely visible, as if weathered by time.

As Naruto moved on he saw an unearthly glow from a citadel where the Ninja Academy once stood, it was far from where he was but he could clearly see a colossal tree and from the center of its spire-like decussating branches emitted phantom rays of pallid yet brilliant light.

Suddenly, noises akin to that of shattering glass broke the silence, and as the blonde turned his back he saw that the dead ninjas entombed within the wall awakened and hauntingly broke out of their enclosure like soulless puppets being controlled by invisible strings; interminably, they chanted in droning monotones a sentence that Naruto deeply dreaded to hear from their death kissed lips. "Why did you abandon us? Why have you forsaken us?"

"I'm sorry…I…I…didn't…" Naruto barely mumbled with his quivering lips when he heard Kurama's voice.

"Forget them Naruto! They are nothing more but specters from this hell." Kurama growled.

Naruto was taciturn for a long second as a golden shroud of six path sage chakra engulfed his body. Orange irides appeared beneath his rippled, faintly glowing purple eyes and from the fiery chakra cloak he donned formed a light gold colored coat with a dark colored bodysuit that covers of his torso underneath, reaching down to his arms and to his knuckles, and down his legs, stopping just above his sandals which also changed color. A light colored circle appeared where his seal was placed, as well as golden magatama markings on his collar. Subsequently, truth seeking balls formed and hovered behind his back.

"I will avenge all of you. I promise." Naruto said in a somber voice as he converted all of his hovering truth seeking balls in to **Tailed Beast Balls** which hethen channeled his wind-natured chakra, creating screeching shuriken-like blades that violently spin around their nucleus.

Naruto then dragooned all nine of his **Tailed Beast Ball Rasenshuriken** upon the zombified denizens of the elemental nations, instantly extinguishing them by the ensuing immensely destructive blast.

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Weary and languid, Naruto limped and beheld the eerie glow emanating from the portal of the inner citadel. By will alone he impelled his feet to stride in to the citadel's direction, and as he entered its threshold he beheld the source of the pallid illumination. The majestic tree he spotted from afar was even more magnificent on a closer view. Within the heart of its colossal branches was Errealth, sleeping in a fetal position while his tendril-like wings folded throughout his body akin to a cloak.

Revolving around the great tree were a large number of rapidly expanding and contracting energy masses which themselves contained a type of parallel reality. These pocket universes were unconsciously created by Errealth through his dreaming force as he sleeps and seemingly dissolve or collapse upon themselves once the deity awakens, destroying what life evolved within such universes.

"Let's do this kid." Kurama grinned.

"This ends now." Naruto hissed in a deathly serious tone as he pulled a scroll and from it summoned the super-dimensional dagger given to him by Nyarlathotep.

Once again, Naruto transformed in to his Six Path Sage Mode and hurled a specially marked kunai on to the great tree, penetrating one of the branches near the slumbering outer-god, from which the shinobi then proceeded to **Hiraishin** himself and materialize.

Moments before he appeared, Naruto conditioned himself to do whatever it takes to kill the Errealth. However, nothing prepared him as he beheld the god of balance face to face.

While the rest of the outer-gods (in their real forms) are too alien or defies mortal logic and thus mind shattering to behold, Errealth is divinely beautiful. It would seem that his appearance depends more on the observer than the observed, changing eagerly to please and seduce the eye of the beholder. In physical form he is the embodiment of perfection and commands the love of every mortal who laid his or her eyes upon him, inspiring the legend of angels in human mythologies and religions

Upon seeing the sleeping Errealth, Naruto instantly fell to his knees and dropped the menacing dagger from his hand. Immediately, he became intoxicated with the joy of basking on the outer-god's presence, and of looking at him as he peacefully slumbers, and of feeling the ecstasy that thrilled along the shinobi's veins from the touch of the phantom rays that flowed from the latter's body. At that moment there was nothing more Naruto wanted but to be with the dark-god, to give himself over; mind, body and soul.

Suddenly, the image of Hinata flashed before Naruto's eyes and for a brief interim he regained his volition and grabbed the super-dimensional dagger, raising it high in the air.

"Naruto…no…..please." Whisper seeming pleaded on Naruto's ear, as if the outer-god is imploring mercy to the shinobi.

"For Konoha!" Naruto exclaimed, summoning all his willpower he then plunged the dagger deep in to Errealth's skull.

From where Naruto sank the dagger, cracks began to form and from them poured blazing beams of blinding light. The pocket universes revolving around the three then started to oscillate as they imploded before subsequently exploding in to iridescent bursts of surreal colors beyond human comprehension.

The light pouring from Errelath then luridly intensified as the cracks widened until the dark-god shattered in to infinite shards that was dispersed on to the equally infinite dimensions, realities and universes.

Naruto then felt an excruciating pain that was beyond any spectrum of pain a mortal could experience. Then as the shinobi looked down to the source of the agony he saw that the biggest shard of Errealth, the size of a crown jewel, embedded deep on his chest.

Naruto then beheld with a benumbed and painful mind as the strange realm became nebulous and chaotic with entropy, vanishing before his eyes like an explosion of shattered images before he himself was overtaken by the immense physical and mental fatigue. He seemed to wait alone, for one terrible instant, in a center of dwindling light on which the cyclonic forces of night and destruction were impinging with torrential rapidity.

The shinobi then hanged irresolute in the shadowed air, powerless and hopeless before the impending catastrophe, and saw that the darkness had surrounded the entire world and was rushing upon him from all sides. It ate the heavens, blotted the outer suns, and the vast perspectives over which he had journeyed appeared to shrink and shrivel like a fire-blackened paper.

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(Outer Realm)

In the unearthly extraplanar dimension created by outer-god's through the power of their mentifery, on the great fane occupying many dimensional layers and realities, Nyarlathotep laughed triumphantly as he saw Errealth's throne splintered and crumbled; signifying the end of his more powerful nephew's dominion over Earth and it denizens.

" _Aw my poor dear nephew. How ironically have you died…..killed by the insignificant insects you protected….you protected against the likes of me."_ Nyarlathotep thought sadistically with a sinister demonic grin as he held in his hand a hyper-geometric cube where the visibly downtrodden and tormented soul of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki was chained and imprisoned.

Suddenly, Nyarlathotep's mood became foul seeing one of the lesser deities vaporized as it attempted to manifest itself on Earth. "Damn you brat! Even though you're dead you still continue to protect the humans through the barrier you erected long ago that barred me and my slaves from entering the material plane…..No matter. Left unpowered, the barrier will dissolve and when it does we shall descend upon Earth and consume all those who stand in our path. We shall bathe on the sea of blood and drink from the river of tears wrought from their endless suffering." He then exclaimed in a thunderous voice subsequently followed by a resonating evil laugh that echoed portentously on the great edifice as the lesser deities lauded and endlessly kowtowed before him.

 **End**

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 **Het there folks!**

 **I hope you enjoyed reading, and I hope the chapter didn't mess your head too much.**

 **Sorry about the delay, I wasn't able to update the story due to work. Anyways this chapter was the most tricky and challenging to write so far as I tried my best to incorporate all the writing methods and techniques I learned from the previous chapters in hopes of constructing a story flow that is almost visible to the reader.**

 **Oh and also I have to apologize to the C'thulhu mythos people for dialing down a notch the ol' nerf-o-meter on Alex/Errealth. This is so for Naruto to stand a fighting chance. Though I would assure you guys that there is a happy ending in this story…..for all of them.**

 **See you awesome people on the subsequent chapters.**

 **Cheerio :)**


	16. Chapter 16: Forever in a Day

(Sixty Five Million Years Ago)

Amidst the cold and infinite cosmos two greater entities conversed in a casual yet deeply philosophical manner. The elder one of which, Yog-Sothoth, manifested himself as congeries of iridescent glowing orbs that flickered, waned and waxed in coterminous with the creation and destruction of every single universe in existence; the other one was Errealth, his spawn, who in his real form looked like a solid black silhouette of a youth riddled with shimmering starry-like spots akin to that of a cloudless night sky, and with galaxy spanning tendril-like wings engulfed in a fiery aura of white energy, and crowned with a halo of shimmering platinum-like ethereal matter that blazed with radiant nuclear plasma.

"Father, why have you brought me here?" Errealth bewilderingly inquired.

"I have something for you. A gift if you will." Yog-Sothoth replied in an eerie echoing voice as he pointed Earth.

"Isn't this the planet that just got hit by an asteroid not too long ago? Earth was it?" Errealth inquired with a confounded countenance on his face as he held the entire solar system in the palm of his hand.

"Yes" Yog-Sothoth replied coldly.

"A dead world? Really?" Errealth sniffed. "You're giving me a nearly barren planet for a gift?" He then continued as he gave his father an incredulous gaze.

"Yes." Yog-Sothoth once again vouchsafed a one liner reply that echoed metallically amidst the cosmos adding to his son's frustration.

"Yeah, I thought so." Errealth muttered in a deadpan tone, proverbially rolling his eyes. "I'm sorry father did you want me to flick this useless mud ball in to a black hole." He then continued sarcastically like the smart-aleck he is.

"No. I want you to protect it. The meteor that recently befell this blue pearl may have eradicated most of its life for now but in time life shall once again breathe and grow. Listen well, around such time a mortal species called the humans will come to evolve in this world. They are destined to fulfill a great task and shall play a major part in shaping the universe. You must guide their evolution and prevent their destruction; you shall rear them until they become strong enough to stand on their own." Yog-Sothoth explained philosophically, piquing the interest of his son.

"An interesting gift I must admit." Errealth smiled with childlike wonder.

"By the time the humans grow and mature so shall you." Yog-Sothoth expounded calmly.

"Why what's wrong with me?" Errealth pouted in a bratty manner as he crossed his arm and glared incredulously at his father.

"Do you want an honest answer?" Yog-Sothoth riposted in a sarcastic tone. This is one of those extremely rare and fleeting moment when the all-knowing deity shows a dry sense of humor that deeply exasperates his son.

"Never mind." Errealth poutingly mumbled like a silly child.

"Do you accept this gift and responsibility?" Yog-Sothoth inquired.

Before Errealth could answer, a vision from the distant future flashed before his eyes; he saw a valiant warrior with hair like the golden rays of the autumnal sun and donned a shimmering golden aura. He then saw the warrior opened his hand and from it blazed a bright and warm light which the latter utilized to defeat the nigh-insurmountable forces of destruction and change destiny itself. "Magnificent" He then muttered in vicarious admiration while his eyes were alight with much wonderment.

"Think it well my son. Take all the time you need." Yog-Sothoth said in a gentle voice and encouraging tone.

" _Earth….humans...destiny….how interesting."_ Errealth thought as he further perused Earth along with the entire solar system which he has transiently isolated from the rest of the universe and held within the palm of his hand like a tiny grain of sand. "Yes. It will be an honor to be the protector of Earth and the guardian of the noble humans." He then continued unreservedly after an interim of contemplation.

"Rejoice then, for from this moment onwards this sphere and all life that might and will thrive on it shall be yours to command until fate has proclaimed that thou shall relinquish it back to its rightful hands. Keep your sacred duty a guarded secret to all, and from your lips the lore of this prophecy should never take flight for knowledge of such a foretelling is dangerous if it would ever to fall in the wrong hands." Yog-Sothoth declared with a thunderous voice as the edict was officially sealed. "However a word of caution my son, don't invest too much of yourself to them….for this may cause your own destruction." He then said solemnly before he departed, leaving a much dazed Errealth.

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(Sam Uley's House)

It's funny to think that unexpected moments pave the way to new horizons. The series of opportune events that unexpectedly occurred during the seemingly uneventful with dinner Naruto have opened the doors for reconciliation and to see an old foe in a new light. Now that past wounds have healed and burned bridges rebuilt Emily invited Leah to their house so that the two might do some catching up and recount what they've missed from the interim of relative turbulence between them.

The day went quite well and the formerly estranged cousins became reconnected once more as the two continued to chat while they prepared dinner for the entire pack.

"I knew that you and Naruto would end up together. You two make such a cute couple." Emily said jovially, making Leah smile.

"He can be quite a goof ball sometimes." Leah said in a jovial tone followed by a chuckle as she reminisced all of the awkward but precious moments she and Naruto had together. "But you know what? He never ceases to make me smile." She then continued in soft voice along with a gentle smile.

"So…...when is he gon'na put a ring on it?" Emily playfully teased Leah as the latter sliced some vegetables for a stew they're cooking.

Hearing this, Leah laughed awkwardly. "Naruto? Apparently he needs more time to think about it…..even though he already had plenty…..how could he be so clueless!" Leah said in a voice that progressively intensified as her mood became more and more foul until eventually her temper flared to searing blaze which was reflected on the vegetables that were minced so finely as if they came out of a food processor on high.

"Okay….I think the vegetables are a little bit overdone." Emily said sheepishly as she anxiously watched the pieces of carrots fly all around the kitchen from all the intensity. "Maybe we should ease down a bit Leah." She then continued, a bit anxious.

Hearing her cousin, Leah froze on her tracks then sighed. "It's just…" She then muttered awkwardly.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure he'll figure it out." Emily said in an encouraging voice that helped assuage Leah's anxieties.

Out of sudden images and entire memories flashed before Leah's eyes as the expanding ripples in the fabric of reality undulated from Errealth's demise. She felt disorientated and confused as in an instant she experienced reliving the memories of her past life. She remembered being born and growing up under the Hyuga household; she remembered the first time she met Naruto that snowy day when the blonde defended her from those bullies; and most of all she vividly remembered the destruction of Konoha and its citizens by virtue of the unearthly powers of the mysterious stranger, she saw the elemental nations shatter and sink under the unforgiving ocean along with the violent implosion and surreal reconstitution of the moon.

"Leah are you ok?" Emily inquired worried in a low voice, grasping her shoulders to try and help her from succumbing to the vertiginous disorientation.

"Everything ok here? ….What's happening? Sam and his pack just arrived when they saw Leah seemingly in pain. The situation became even more complicated as scattered flashes of strange memories from Leah's mind trickled in to their brain, causing much confusion. " What's this?" Are the only word he was able to mumble out of bewilderment.

"Naruto-kun." Leah gaspingly muttered having now fully remembered her past life as Hinata Hyuga.

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(Storm Residence – The Next Day)

"Hey…wake up." A familiar voice said that roused Naruto back to his senses from what seemed to be hours of unconsciousness. "Naruto" He then heard the same voice calling his name then felt a hand grasping his left arm.

Azure orbs slowly opened. Peering, the first thing Naruto saw was a cloudy silhouette of a person leaning towards him, checking if he's ok. At first, the shinobi thought that it was one of the mansion's staff but as his vision readjusted and the haze of oblivion cleared out he was quite startled as he realized that it was Alex.

"Are you alright?" Alex inquired in a gentle voice, concerned.

"Impossible" Naruto muttered, bewildered as how the young man is still alive.

"I'm sorry…what was that?" Alex inquired with a confounded countenance on his face.

Out of surprise and perhaps anger fueled bewilderment Naruto grabbed Alex's throat and quickly sprang up then slammed him forcefully in to a nearby column. However as the shinobi tightened his grip a vision flashed vividly inside his head before he could squeeze the air off the young man's lungs.

It would seem that through his six path sage power Naruto accidentally accessed Alex's memories; and from it he found out that the latter's parents were cultists, and along with other noblemen who were also cultists has sacrificed the latter to be Errealth's mortal avatar through a dark ritual when the latter was just about nine years old. He saw how the young man watched in the dark corner of his consciousness as Errealth twisted his mind and controlled his very action, later on killing his parents when the latter provoked the deity's wrath by commanding him haughtily like a mere servant to shape the world according to their Machiavellian vision. Naruto then loosened his hold and watched intently with cold eyes the gasping young man.

"So you are just a puppet." Naruto said in a calm but mirthless hiss and with an impassive expression on his face. "You're free now." He then continued before he **Hiraishined** himself out the premises.

"Naruto…." Alex said, seemingly wanting to say something more but was flummoxed to see that Naruto was gone.

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(Cullen's House)

"Something's up. I know it. Naruto is hiding something." Emmett said with comedic suspicion as he presented his conspiracy theory to Edward and Jasper.

"Something's always up with him if you haven't yet noticed." Edward said while shaking his head. "I wouldn't stick my nose in it too much if I were you." He then continued as he sat on the coach.

"That much I would agree." Jasper concurred, momentarily deviating from the book he was reading.

"Aren't you guys curious of what he's up to….not even a little?" Emmett said in a silly and childish voice but quite in a deeply persuading manner as he hovered from Edward to Jasper, secretly stirring the interest of his two other siblings.

"What he does is his own business. Usually, nasty surprises are involved when it comes to Naruto's 'extra-curricular' activities….and these are something you don't want to get involved." Jasper said in a serious tone trying to dissuade Emmet while superficially sporting a cool nonchalant façade, though he himself was curious of what Naruto is up to these past few days.

"Remember that time when one of his friends from the past showed up along with those two ancients." Edward interjected, trying to deter Emmett from perusing any further.

"Yeah" Emmett sighed. "Up to now I can't believe what I saw." He then muttered in a low voice.

"What are you guys talking about?" Alice inquired as she, Rosalie and Esme walked inside the living room.

"Ah nothing…..we're just talking about Naruto." Emmett blurted out.

"Emmett's a bit curious of what he's up to lately." Edward expounded though he tried to be offhand about it.

"Come to think of it he was acting a bit strange these past few days. I thought I'm the only one who noticed." Esme said as she reflected on the blonde's eccentric behavior.

"I shouldn't be saying this but the other day I had a vision of Naruto going to Alex's house." Alice said in a sheepish and awkward voice.

"What do you think they're doing?" Rosalie inquired as a plethora of inappropriate hypotheses spun inside her head.

As if on cue the door creaked open and Naruto came in startling everyone. "Oh hey guys." He greeted in a voice that was tired and languid. "I'm not going to school today. It has been a wild night…I'm so tired." He then continued that made everyone in the room comically drop their jaws out of shock.

"Is there something wrong?" Naruto then inquired in a desultory tone and with heavy eyelids.

"No!" Everyone in the room simultaneously replied with an awkward cadence in their voices as if they were hiding something from the shinobi.

Ordinarily, Naruto would be quite suspicious but he was extremely weary both physically and mentally from his previous battle that he simply stopped caring. "Ok….I'm gon'na go to bed. Damn! My backside hurt." He then said in a somnolent voice as he instinctively groped his lower back and butt then droopingly walked past the slack jawed, wide eyed vampires and in to his room.

"Ok…I suppose that confirms it." Rosalie murmured in a hush voice. _"Never really thought he's the submissive partner."_ She then thought trying to contain a chuckle.

"Oh Leah's gon'na freak out if she found out about this." Emmett said amusedly, shifting his weight from leg to leg as he bursts in to a roaring belly laugh.

"Hey! What's with racket? I'm trying to sleep here!" Naruto snapped in a cartoonic chibi-like outburst as he charged out of his room and stick his head half-way throughout the stair's handrail and to protest the sleep inhibiting commotion.

"Nothing." The Cullen's once again nervously replied in awkward unison that made Naruto's eyes squint with cynicism.

"You guys are acting all weird." He peered at them with a disbelieving expression on his face then spoke in a hissing wary voice, giving them the 'I'm-on-to-you' look by placing his index and middle fingers in front of his eyes then abruptly pointed them to the rest of his foster family as he slowly and comically retreated in likewise fashion of a snake slithering back to its lair.

"He looks so drained….must be one hell of a sex they had." Emmett muttered a witty riposte as a sly smile widened on his face.

"Quit it Emmett." Esme reprimanded in a gentle yet authoritative whisper though like the rest of her children she can't help herself but sneak a few smirks of amusement.

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(Biology Class)

Thick billows of black cumulonimbus blanketed the blue as heavy rain poured from the heavens accompanied by ominous flashes of lightning and reverberating booms of deafening thunder, along with a sinisterly gelid air that branded a portentous feeling of unknown fear and acrimony in the hearts of everyone as if an auspice of a looming doom inevitably impending with mind bending rapidity.

As per usual Eric walked Bella in to Biology while Edward was just behind them walking nonchalantly but keeping a close eye on the two.

"Something wrong Bella?" Eric inquired as he noticed Bella's pensive demeanor.

"No. It's…it's just we're dissecting frogs today. I'm not really looking forward to that." Bella replied in a discomfited voice.

"Oh yeah…me too. Those poor animals" Eric said in an outwardly sympathetic voice, grabbing the chance for the 'kindred spirit move' "You know I'm thinking of becoming a vegetarian." He then said that made Edward snigger for he knew that the former couldn't resist them tasty and luscious burgers.

"Hey Arizona. How'ere yah doing girl? " Mike greeted in a jovial voice as Bella walked inside the room. His mood soured however as he saw Edward walking besides her. _"Freak"_ He then scoffed as the later walked passed him and eyed him quite darkly as the vampire read his mind.

"Yeah. Really cute Mike." Eric scoffed as walked to his desk with a deadpan expression on his face, being once again interjected by Mike when he thought he's so close on making Bella say yes to a date.

"Hey" Bella greeted back with a vague smile on her face while Edward suddenly held his hand and grinned cheekily, earning Mike's ire.

"What was that?" Bella amusedly inquired, surprised of Edward's sudden sweet gesture.

"Just feels like it." Edward shrugged with a smile playing at the edges of his lips.

"By the way I haven't seen Naruto today. Is he alright?" Bella opted to change the topic as she glanced at the quite indignant Mike and out of genuine concern for Naruto's wellbeing, thinking that the shinobi had a depression relapse from his fateful encounter with Sasuke.

Hearing this Edward smirked but quickly regained his composure as he saw the puzzled expression on Bella's face.

"Is something wrong?" Bella inquired, confused.

"Everything's fine. He's just a little tired playing all night with his new best friend." Edward responded in an awkward voice as if suppressing a chuckle.

"I don't understand." Bella once again inquired, more confused than ever.

"Well….you see….Naruto and your annoying friend are buddy-buddy now and they do stuff, weird stuff." Edward explained with as much dignity as he could muster however Bella could peruse a strange expression on his face as if he was trying to make a visualization of Naruto's strange activities and at the same time erase the said visualization in his mind as quickly as it formed.

"Annoying friend? Who? Mike?" Bella queried a battering of questions as she tilted her head out of befuddlement.

"No. not him." Edward corrected with a straight face as he glanced at Mike who was cursing at him at the back of his head while at the same time thinking inappropriate thoughts about Bella.

At that point Bella instantly knew who Edward was talking about but decided to tease him a little. "Is it Eric? He's not that annoying." She then said, pretending to still be confused as she held and examined the scalpel on the table.

"The other one." Edward said impassively. "The one with cheekbones sharper than that scalpel." He then continued in a low but riled hiss. . A trace of antipathy was in his voice for there were ten thousand reasons why he doesn't particularly like Alex.

Hearing this, Bella can't help herself but smile amusedly at Edward's riposte. "I think Naruto is rubbing too much on you." She tittered. "Are you jealous? I mean he's kinda cute you know." She then continued to tease Edward.

"I think it's you who rubbed off too much of Naruto. You're sounding a lot like him." Edward smilingly said in amusement as he realized that Bella is just teasing him.

Both of them then chuckled lightly, finding humor in the awkward hilarity of the conversation. Mike on the other hand glared fumingly at Edward as a train of ill thoughts and disturbing maledictions continued to weave inside his head.

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(Naruto's Room)

Weary and languid from his previous unearthly encounter, Naruto can't help but succumb to the chasm of sleep. However, the black oblivion of slumber has not offered him the respite he badly needed; instead it opened the shinobi's mind to the nethermost chambers of the night and plunged his consciousness in to some unsanctioned frenzy of Errealth's scattered memories and gave the shibobi a glimpse to the unknowable mysteries that no man was meant to penetrate.

Like a peculiar hallucination Naruto found himself in a cold and dim cosmos, beholding a dialogue between Errealth and Nyarlathotep. Their real forms are mind shattering to behold but by reasons yet obscured the shinobi didn't went insane as he laid his eyes upon the macrocosmic dark gods, though he felt his heart paced faster and a cold sweat began to trickle as eldritch existential terror grasped his very soul.

Though Naruto knew that they possess illimitable power beyond mortal understanding and the fact that either of these beings mere thought can exert an inexorable force on existence itself he didn't capitulate to fear for he knew that he already destroyed the more powerful of the two and the other can't cross the veil in to the mortal plane. Soon curiosity replaced the subdued fear and the shinobi opted to move closer and listen to the conversation of the outer-gods.

"Nephew what have you done? Why have you exiled most of our subjects from Earth and forced the rest in to hibernation?" Nyarlathotep inquired in calm tone, though a secret loathing has laced his voice from Errealth's verdict to banish or forced in to deathlike slumber the earth-bound gods and the great old ones who imposed their dominion over the mortal denizens of the Earth.

"They are asking too much of the humans." Errealth replied in a casual manner.

"The humans?….you are taking their side over ours? What's so special about the humans?" Nyarlathotep roared with outrage in a stentorian voice.

"Calm yourself uncle. Remember that that I have jurisdiction over this world. Besides, I have not banished all of them; the benevolent ones still remained to guide humanity." Errealth replied in calm but authoritative voice. "Majority of both the earth-bound gods and the great old ones has abused their authority at the expense of those beneath them. Bloody sacrifices, wars to expand their influence and increase their power….they have demanded too much of the mortals." He then continued tranquilly trying to elucidate the equitability of his decision.

"What is a god, but a being that is worshipped by those beneath?" Nyarlathotep replied in a much calmer and controlled voice.

"They have not upheld their duty, they have if ignored the prayers of their worshippers yet demanded them to commit atrocities in their name. I have opted to extend this punishment for they have acted more like undisputable and tyrannical kings of mortals rather than the mere guardians of balance which is what they are." Errealth stood his ground firmly in justification to the punishment he imposed.

"Never mind the humans dear nephew, they have little value to us. Let the lesser beings feel the burden of their mortal existence. We are beyond such concerns or worries. Every power is ours to use, every sensation ours to experience. We are truly the masters of them, and all others exist only to satisfy our curiosities. We have earned our position of power. Let us forever taste the fruits of such achievement. Time itself is ours to command. We are eternal." Nyarlathotep persuaded unctuously with his silver tongue in an attempt to convince Errealth to reverse his edict and let their divine subjects back to Earth.

" _You have a little speech for everything, don't you dear uncle? You must be so tired of being right all the time….not"_ Errealth sarcastically thought like the wisecracking wisenheimer that he is, though he didn't let it belie his outward composure. "Nonetheless, the short answer is no." He then said coldly in an astute tone.

" _Why you insolent brat. You will pay for this."_ Nyarlathotep fumingly thought though he maintained a calm outward rouse for he knew that offending his nephew is an ill thing and can lead to his immediate destruction if he doesn't choose his next words carefully. "Errealth….devoid of mortal worship, you know that some of them will cease to exist." He then continued, projecting the image a wise and considerate overlord.

"I have already thought of that." Errealth said smiling. Then with an indolent flick of his wrist both gods were transported in to a void dimensional plane.

"What…what are we doing here?" Nyarlathotep queried in a confused tone.

"You'll see." Errealth said while the smile on his face broadened. Opening his hand, a swirling point of ethereal energy embedded with what looks like a cluster of tiny stars emanated from his palm. The swirling whirlpool then suddenly expanded all at once encompassing every inch of the empty dimension.

Naruto then beheld how everything became nebulous and disordered beyond his conception before eventually the chaos abated and the formless wasteland transformed in to what is now the outer-god's multi-dimensional layered domain, the outer plane.

"As long as they remain in this sphere they won't fade from existence. They may even enforce a subtle influence on the humans via the latter's dreams, though they will not be allowed to interfere with mortal affairs. Here they will learn the plight of the humans by worshipping us; night and day they will perform the due rite of obeisance and prostrate before us until the end of time or until they learn that they aren't the sovereigns of Earth but merely its custodians, whichever comes first of course." Errealth said in a philosophical tone followed by one of his smart-mouth quips as the outlandish realm shaped itself.

Hearing this, Nyarlathotep became extremely suspicious of the fact that his ordinarily cold-hearted, self-centered and scapegrace nephew suddenly cared deeply about something; and to think it's the insignificant humans that won the latter's affection and favor about above all else. "How about the one called Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki? What will be his fate?" Nyarlathotep then inquired in a curious voice, which was in fact a cunning subterfuge to extract more information.

"He's the worst of them all. The deviations engendered by his intrusion had thrown the natural order in to imbalance that will take thousands of years of subtle manipulation to rectify. I have prepared something special for him." Errealth said as he held an innocent looking cube in his hand. The said cube however is nothing less than the physical manifestation of a pocket-dimensional prison gateway he created utilizing his mastery over hyper-geometry and advanced understanding of the forces of creation to trap the sage within its fold, from which there is no escape.

Naruto wanted to get closer and further scrutinize the cube in hopes that he will be able to uncover its secret and release Hagoromo from his prison. However, as he was about to do so he heard a humming sound that instantly pulled his consciousness from the eldritch dream and abruptly expelled it back in to the waking world.

"What the…." Naruto groaned as he opened his eyelids and light penetrated his azure orbs. He then reached out for his phone which at that very moment just stopped ringing; the first thing he noticed is that it was already past three pm, then as he lowered his gaze down the screen his eyes widened seeing that there were fifteen missed calls and even more messages, all of them from Leah.

Realizing that something must have happened Naruto called Leah quickly. "Hey Leah something wro…." He said worryingly but was cutoff.

"Where the hell are you! I've been calling you for the past two hours….I have been waiting for you all day, all day Naruto!" Leah growled on the other side of the phone like an angry lioness.

"Hey…hey…hey…What's happening? I just woke up ya' know." Naruto replied, startled from Leah's sudden outburst.

"Just woke up? It's already past three freakin o'clock lazybones, get your ass off bed!" Leah exclaimed in an increasingly outraged voice. "I need to talk to you…about something important." She then sighed, stirring Naruto's curiousity.

"Okay I'll be there" Naruto replied assuringly. "Uhmm….where are we going to meet again?" He then inquired sheepishly.

"I'm in Port Angeles, I'll see you at the ramen bar." Leah replied with a strange cadence in her voice; as if trying calm down while at the same time holding back her irritation.

"Give me thirty minutes, wait make that an hour, I'll be there." Naruto said as he frantically freshened up and change clothes.

"Twenty minutes." Leah hissed forebodingly.

"Oh come on Leah. The drive from my location to Port Angeles is gon'na be more or less than thirty minutes. I can't possibly be there earlier than that." Naruto said, trying to justify his position but he was taken aback hearing Leah angrily grinding his teeth together at the other end of the line.

"Twenty minutes. Get your ass in here within twenty minutes or I'll rip your nuts off." Leah said in calm but deathly scary voice and in a tone which progressively became more menacing as she spoke; making Naruto froze from where he stood.

If the presence of an outer-god induces a mind shattering terror; Leah's wrath, it would seem, is on a far different level as it petrified Naruto like earth that has been blasted by the deathly cold of a long winter.

Realizing that time is ticking, Naruto hastily hopped on to his car and drove faster than he ever did in his lifetime; however, half-way to his destination Naruto suddenly remembered that he could just **Hiraishined** himself all along. "Ah heck!" Naruto exclaimed out of frustration as he quickly conjured a shadow clone to drive his car back to their house then subsequently teleporting himself to Port Angeles.

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(Port Angeles)

Leah just arrived at the ramen bar and was about to walk in when she saw Naruto standing at its threshold, waiting for her.

"I'm five minutes early." Naruto said awkwardly with a seemingly nervous smile on his face.

"Good. Because I was serious about ripping your nuts of if you're late." Leah replied maintaining the outrage rouse in her voice, though in reality, just seeing Naruto brought imponderable joy in her heart and it sponged away her earlier annoyance of the blonde.

"Ok, what's so important we have to discuss that you have to threaten me with castration?" Naruto inquired uncomfortably with a confounded countenance on his face but as soon as he finished his sentence Leah suddenly kissed him intensely. _"Oh yeah, this must be my lucky day."_ The golden haired shinobi elatedly thought as he naughtily sneaked in some tongue.

"Easy with the tongue tiger." Leah smilingly said in a soft voice.

"Oops, sorry about that." Naruto chuckled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

"I have something important to tell you Naruto." Leah said in the same soft voice. There was something in her eyes that made Naruto feel nostalgic and happy as he gazed at them.

"Sure. What is it?" Naruto said curiously.

"Maybe we should move in to a more private place?" Leah said with a gentle yet enticing smile on her face.

"Hold on" Naruto said as he held Leah's hand then **Hiraishined** themselves in to their special spot which was a glade deep amidst the forest. "Ok…slowly, don't worry it will pass." He then said to Leah as it was the latter's first time to teleport and the sudden shift from one place to another made her a bit giddy.

"Oh I can get used to this." Leah said amusedly.

"What is that important thing again that we have to talk about?" Naruto inquired as he remembered the original purpose of such a secluded privacy.

"Well…honestly, I don't know where to begin." Leah said as she and Naruto walked together to find a good spot amidst the viridian glade and lichen crested trees.

Still a bit dizzy from the effects of the **Hiraishin** , Leah suddenly fell out of balance and slipped as she stepped on an uneven slope. However, before her body could fall in to the grassy ground Naruto quickly caught her in his arms.

Leah then smiled affectionately and looked in to Naruto's clear azure eyes as he held his other hand and placed it on her cheek. "This is what I want to tell you Naruto-kun."

Through his six path sage power, Naruto then was able to enter Leah's mind and the shinobi saw the latter's recent memories, and he realized that Leah and Hinata are one. "Hinata" Naruto muttered as tears of great and exalted joy fell from his eyes. "I love you…I always have." The shinobi then said as he hugged her ardently.

"I love you Naruto, I'm so happy to see you once more after all this years. Promise me we'll never be apart." Leah said with tears of joy also falling from her eyes as she as she softly caressed Naruto's face.

"I promise." Naruto said as he looked deeply in to her eyes then shifted his gaze to her lips.

Naruto and Leah then kissed fervently, never separating until the two needed a break for air. As their lips once again locked both of them subconsciously started to take their clothes off and continued to ardently caress each other.

Naruto then laid Leah on to the soft grass that was perfumed by the sweet smelling wild blooms of early summer and went on top of her as they torridly fondled with each other.

Leah gasped as she felt her heart skip a bit while Naruto's toned and muscular body made contact with her voluptuous and naked physique; subsequently, Naruto then thrusts forward making her moan in pleasure and in a bit of pain as the golden haired shinobi has an above average package.

Amidst the lush and viridian forest, under the gentle light of the twilight sun Naruto and Leah made sweet and passionate love for what seemed to be an eternity, rekindling the flame that hasn't burned so brightly in ten thousand years.

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(Cullen's House)

Needless to say Naruto went home with a broad smile on his face wrought of pure love and unparalleled happiness of being reunited with Hinata once more and knowing that the girl he loved in the past and the girl he loves in the present are one and the same.

"You look happy." Carlisle said in a gentle voice as he noticed Naruto's bright disposition.

"Well, you know." Naruto shrugged jovially as he made his way in to the kitchen and grabbed a soda from the fridge. "Ah what a beautiful day" He then exclaimed in a pleasant mood as he proceeded to the living room and drooped on the sofa.

"It sure is." Edward commented sardonically in a blasé voice.

"You guys won't believe what happened today. I thought it was impossible but…." Naruto started to recount in a voice that was full of childlike wonder but was cut-off.

"Dude. Seriously, we don't want to know what you and your boyfriend do in the sack." Emmett said teasingly.

"Speak for yourself. Go on Naruto please do tell." Rosalie said kindly followed by an amicable smile that was totally out of her character.

"What's happening? Why are you so nice?" Naruto asked, befuddled. He knows that something's definitely up when Rosalie's acting so nice and all. "And did I just hear you say boyfriend?" He then turned his attention to Emmett with a confused countenance on his face as he remembered the latter's previous statement.

"We know what's happening Naruto. You don't have to hide it." Rosalie said with the same nigh-benevolent tone that caused chills ran through the shinobi's spine while the rest of his family, save for Carlisle who doesn't yet know what's happening, snigger in amusement.

"What are you guys talking about? Ah never mind, I'm not getting a good answer from you people this way anyway." Naruto said, confused and a bit irritated. He then made a seal of confrontation and utilized his chakra induced telepathy to peer in to the minds of everyone in the room but much to his surprise and horror when he found out what they were thinking.

"Oh for the love of…..really? That's what you guys are thinking? Come on!" Naruto exclaimed in an aggravated comical outburst.

"What's happening in here?" Carlisle inquired, being the only one on the coven left out in the dark.

"Well you see Naruto here…." Jasper started to explain but was cutoff.

"Ahh Ahh Ahh, hold that thought. I'll show you." Naruto said in a silly and childlike manner, garnering the attention of everyone in the room who were still sniggering in amusement. "Ok. Remember, you guys asked for this ya'know." He then continued but in a somewhat semi-serious voice to warn his foster family that what they're about to see is no walk in the park.

Through his chakra induced telepathy, Naruto then projected to the rest of his family the undertakings he has partaken in the last few days. Though he made certain to water down or even omit the details that were too dark and disturbing for the Cullens such as the real nature of the outer-gods and their sinister lore for it was certain that the collective sanities of his foster family will never survive such a mind shattering confrontation with horror; nonetheless the images that flashed in to their heads made every single vampire cringe in absolute fear of the unknown and of the fact that humanity continue to survive and prosper because most of these vague shadowy lords of the outer-hells have chosen to ignore them or were unaware of their existence. The shinobi also made sure that the Cullens would know what he really did at Alex's house the other night, though once again, he spared them the sanity collapsing details of his quest.

"What did you just made us see?" Alice said in a low voice and with quivering lips.

"Well you guys asked for it. So, what did we learn?" Naruto trollingly quipped in a slightly dark humored manner.

"That you're a weirdo and what you do is even weirder." Rosalie scoffed.

"It's actually don't be to nosey." Naruto retorted with a deadpan expression on his face.

"Bella" Edward suddenly muttered gaspingly, worried about her safety.

"Relax Edward, she's fine. I already took care of pretty boy…he won't be too much of a bother to you guys." Naruto said nonchalantly. "Funny, if you think about it, Bella sure do attract a strange bunch of admirers; an emo vampire, a friendzoned werewolf, an annoying dark god, and an insecure pervert with issues…weird huh?" The shinobi hummed contemplatively but ceased his vocal pondering when he noticed that Edward is pejoratively glaring at him. "Sorry" He then apologized with a sheepish smile.

"Naruto, are you sure Bella is gon'na be alright. Edward inquired mirthlessly and in a serious tone.

"Yes, she'll be fine. Don't worry about it too much ya'know."Naruto said assuringly that helped appease much of Edwards's anxiety. "Though I won't poke Storm too much if I were you. I reckon that he still possesses a fraction of power from his former boarder which he can't control. Worst case scenario, he may accidentally unleash it if he feels threatened or if he becomes too emotionally charged." He then continued with a calm voice but the content of his message was foreboding enough to put a hard expression on the Cullens faces.

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(Storm Residence – Later That Night)

It was already fast approaching midnight but the immediate vicinity of the Storm manor was bathed with white radiant light from the coruscating beams that emanated through the great glass windows of the lordly edifice.

Inside the said edifice, the illumination was even more lurid and effulgent like the intense rays of mid-day sun that was prismatically refracted by the elegant imperial chandeliers fashioned from the finest Italian crystals that hung on the delicately frescoed and gilded ceiling.

At frequent intervals an ominous but aesthetically pleasing chant of rhythmically measured words reverberated on to the walls and malachite wrought pillars as Alex cast the counter-spell to break Naruto's **fuinjutsu** and free Armand and Lestat from being sealed by the latter within the gold sculpture of a perching firebird.

Soon fulminating glyphs of power formed and hovered above the sculpture which caused the sealing formula to lose its potency and dissolve like ice that has been cast in to a furnace.

"What took you so long?" Lestat quipped as he and Armand materialized like a stray thought that has been given form.

"Just be grateful." Armand rolled his eyes.

"Sorry it took so long. The counter-spell needs to be fueled by my life force, and as you guys know I don't have much to spare." Alex said in a tranquil albeit drained voice.

"Has lord Errealth indeed perished?" Armand inquired though he still can't quite believe it.

"I'm afraid so." Alex replied in a solemn voice.

"But that could only mean…." Lestat worriedly interjected but couldn't finish his sentence out of horror from the resulting consequences of Errealth's destruction.

"Left unpowered, the barrier he erected long ago to protect us will weaken and eventually dissolve; and at the moment of its culmination the old gods of the Earth will cross the veil to wreak their terrible vengeance and enslave humanity once more." Alex said languidly as he seemingly lapsed in and out of near unconsciousness.

"What should we do?" Armand inquired.

"Should we warn them?" Lestat supplemented.

"No….we must not…the end is inevitable. Even if we warn them there is no power on Earth that could stop it. They must never know the truth, this way they can live the rest of their days in peace and happiness rather than in fear and in chaos." Alex said in a low and progressively weakening voice before blacking out as he finally succumbed from exhaustion.

With his vampiric speed, Lestat caught the young man in his arms as he and Armand traded glances, wondering if it is indeed the right thing to do.

 **-End**

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 **Hey there folks!**

 **It has been a while since I updated the story. I thought that this chapter should have more comical element in to it as a breather form the mostly serious storyline of the previous chapter. I hope I didn't disappoint and I hope you awesome people enjoyed reading.**

 **See you next chapter.**

 **Cheerio :)**


	17. Chapter 17: The Messengers

(Hoh Rainforest)

It was a fair weathered day in Forks. There were only but a few slivers of cloud drifting amidst the cerulean sky and the rays of the sun stretched brightly from the heavens and in to the bountiful earth where Leah and Seth were roaming the ancestral forests of their tribe in their wolf forms.

Months have passed since Leah found out about the truth. Around this time, she and Naruto has officially become a couple. The news has been received with mixed reactions from the tribe; some think it is a good thing, a key that will open the doors of friendship between the Quileute and the Cullens; while others, including Seth and Jacob, deemed it ill and continued to view the shinobi and the vampires with suspicion and distrust.

"Seth, why don't you try and be nice to Naruto. At least give him a chance." Leah conveyed telepathically. She figured that this would be the perfect time for her to open the topic and try to diffuse her brother's angst against her boyfriend.

To this Seth didn't bother to reply, but sniffed crossly. All of sudden the siblings stopped in their tracks and swung their heads on to the dark parts of the woods as they growled menacingly, sensing danger as they heard a trio of eerie enigmatic voices spoke to them.

"You transgress our domain." A mysterious disembodied voice of a voluptuous woman said.

"Leave now! You're presence befoul this sacred ground." Another disembodied voice said. It was deep and thunderous, and full of rancor as if it came from a powerful battle hardened warrior.

"Leave now or suffer our unending wrath." A third disembodied voice said threateningly, albeit in a more pragmatic tone.

"Who's there?" Seth said telepathically. He was certain that these strange beings could communicate to them in such a manner.

"Show yourselves!" Leah said menacingly, accompanied by a roar. "Are you afraid?" She then taunted.

"We fear nothing." The mysterious voices then replied in unison as they revealed themselves, much to the horror of the Quileute shape shifters for they were indeed curious creatures when viewed by a mortal's eyes.

"My name is Aldinach. I am she who weaved the elements of nature since time immemorial." The first entity said in a voice that was hypnotic and melodious like the sound of air passing fluidly through screens of fretted ivory. She appears as a lithe humanoid woman with her face covered by an alabaster mask, and with polished mahogany skin and long fingers that end in needles.

"I am Krehonryx of the shadow lands. I have come to enforce justice upon this realm." The second said in a stentorian voice. He appeared to be a hooded and imposing warrior donning a metallic black armor and wielding a chained mace on one hand and a bronze torch burning with viridian flames on the other; and was mounted on a dragon-like monitor larger than a bison with scales like polished obsidian; and from the monitor's mouth spewed murky hellfire and fumes of brimstone.

"I am Suhgurim of the northern winds. I bring destruction to those who are vile." The third entity then spoke last in a thin but sere voice that made chills ran through the shape-shifter's spine. He has the body of a man and the head of a basilisk; along with a set of four wings that proudly flap behind his back and talon like hands wielding a pair of wickedly curved khopesh swords.

"What on earth are you guys?" Seth muttered bemusedly with widened eyes from both wonder and fear.

"We are spirits of nature. We are giving you a chance to walk away. Leave now and no harm shall befall on you." The three entities then spoke in an uncanny concurrence which reverberated eerily like a horrific requiem of desolation.

"Leah lets go." Seth said anxiously, feeling that something ominous will happen if they don't make a temporary retreat.

"This is Quileute soil, our tribe's land. Strange creatures can't just evict us as from our lands on their whim." Leah said firmly, holding his ground against the angry spirits.

"Fools!" Krohenryx lifted his heavy iron mace as he roared in a penetrating voice that echoed deafeningly amidst the towering trees and grey tors of the silent forest.

"We were here long before the first of your kind crawled out of the mud. We stood in horror when the Morning Star declared humanity as the inheritors of the Earth. We watched in revulsion as your filthy race polluted the planet, desecrated our sanctuaries and killed our children out of covetousness and greed. But no more, from this day forward we shall retake what your people have stolen and befouled; and the Earth shall once again bloom with life and will be a paradise once more." Aldinach said eerily in a voice that was beginning to be overtaken by rage but strangely became once again tranquil like the undulating waves of a sapphire sea that has culminated with the powdery sands of an ashen shore.

"If death is what you seek, then death you shall receive." Suhgurim said coldly, crossing his great scythe-like blades high in to his chest which along with his entire body was instantly became encased in layers upon layers of lightning armor that crackled angrily and hummed forebodingly as it interacted with the surrounding air, superheating it.

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(Forks High School – Calculus Class)

It would seem to be one of those ordinary days in school where the tedium charged atmosphere was only broken by the occasional yawning of droopy eyed students whose gaze were fixed on the clock, wishing more than nothing but for the dreary subject to end.

Around this time, Mr. Varner has just finished discussing his lesson about computing define integrals. With an ever scrutinizing sweep, the latter then scanned everyone in the classroom like a terminator to root out those who were slacking around so that they will bear the shameful sentence of answering an impossibly hard calculus problem on the board.

" _Gotcha!"_ Mr. Varner thought with a covert grin as he caught Naruto not paying attention for the latter was busy gazing blissfully at the window thinking of Leah. "Ahem, Mr. Uzumaki. Would you be so kind to answer the problem on the board?" He then said in a smug voice that was bordering night didactic bellicosity.

"Wha…say what now?" Naruto fumblingly replied out of surprise that made Mr. Varner's eye squint and brows furrow.

"The problem…on the board….answer it….now." Mr. Varner said intimidatingly in a hissing but deep and penetrating voice, and in a strange cadence that corroded and drained the composure of every student in the room save for Naruto.

"Okay…okay. Jeez" Naruto furtively mumbled with a raised brow as he made his way on the board and scrutinized the complex calculus problem. "Integrals huh. This is gon'na be a piece of cake." He then thought with a confident smirk as he already mastered higher mathematics from the repeated cycle of him going through high-school and college over the stretch of decades.

"Any time now Naruto." Mr. Varner supplemented with a sadistic grin, thinking that he just found his new victim, though much to his surprise when Naruto started to answer the equation with seemingly minimal difficulty.

"There you go teach." Naruto smiled nonchalantly as he handed the chalk to the slack jawed Mr. Varner who's still having difficulty believing what he just saw.

" _Impossible"_ Mr. Varner gaspingly thought while his eyes comically widen like dinner plates after seeing Naruto flawlessly solve the equation. "Give me that." He then aggravatingly grabbed the piece of chalk from the blonde's hand. "Sit down…and its Mr. Varner to you, not teach or dude, or Yo'. Now go back to your seat and pay attention next time." He continued to reprimand the shinobi as he dismissed him back to his seat. Though at the back of his head he was convincing himself that cheating is the only explanation of how such a happy go lucky and habitually lazy student like Naruto Uzumaki is seemingly smarter than him.

"Sure thing." Naruto said trollingly that made his classmates secretly snigger in support.

Out of sudden the image of Leah flashed unceasingly inside Naruto's head followed by an ominous feeling that the Quileute shape-shifter might be in peril.

"Yo' teach….I mean Mr. Varner, may I go out." Naruto said as he quickly devised a subterfuge to get out of class and look for Leah.

"No." Mr. Varner said coldly. " _Your bladder shall pay the price for your insolence mwahahaha!"_ He then thought sadistically while outwardly projecting the astute image of a dedicated educator to the rest of his students.

"But I really need to go. I can't hold it any longer." Naruto pleaded with an expression of extreme discomfort in his face.

"You can hold it." Mr. Varner said indifferently as he casually flipped through the leaves of his lesson plan.

" _Damn it, I don't have time for this."_ Naruto thought as he made a seal of confrontation and cast a wide area **genjutsu** that temporarily made everyone's mind languid and blank like a once flowing stream that has been touched by the gelid forces of winter. The shinobi then conjured a shadow clone to take his place then quickly made his way to the forest in search for his girlfriend while Mr. Varner and the rest of the class were temporarily left in a state of suspended animation, staring blankly in to the air like statues.

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(Lake Crescent)

As the rest of the pack enjoyed the relatively rare pleasant weather Jake Black couldn't help but submerge himself in deep contemplation. It is no secret that his affection for Bella has now developed in to a love that was pure and sublime though for the longest time he wasn't able to muster the courage to profess it; and now Edward Cullen is seemingly far ahead of the game as Bella was inexorably and irrevocably falling for him with each passing day.

"I can't let this happen." He muttered to himself. He knew that humans and the cold ones aren't meant to be, that a romantic relationship between the two will only bring disaster and much pain. Furthermore, deep within his heart he knew or perhaps made himself believe that Bella loves him too, she just doesn't know it yet.

As he raised his head he saw the billows of thin clouds slowly moving throughout the azure sky and strangely enough, perhaps due to his current disposition, he beheld how the said clouds took the likeness of a beautiful woman with a wolf on her side as they danced gracefully amidst the blue.

"Think fast." Quil said as he quickly passed the ball to the stoic Jake with stunning speed.

With his enhanced reflexes, Jake was able to flick his hand faster than most people's eyes can see and caught the ball before it could hit him on the face.

"You alright Jake?" Embry asked affably as he and Quil walked towards him, though through their pack telepathy they were well aware that he wasn't at ease; nonetheless they've decided to try and assuage his glum.

But before Jake could answer, he, along with the rest of the pack stood frozen for a long second as the thought and ominous sensation of Leah and Seth in danger trickled in to their minds.

"Let's go!" Sam roared mirthlessly as he and the rest of the pack shifted in to their wolf forms and subsequently sprinted in to the direction of the forest.

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With the enhanced speed and agility bestowed to them by their wolf forms and the fact that they don't need roads, the pack was able to swiftly cross the intervening distance between Crescent Lake and Hoh Rainforest which usually takes more than an hour drive to traverse.

They were well aware that Leah and Seth were in some dire predicament but nothing prepared them for what they've saw next. To their surprise and horror as they beheld their fellow shape-shifters barely avoid the fearsome and unrelenting elemental attacks of three strange entities.

Out of sudden, clusters of pike-like ice shards explosively punched out of the ground like blooming lethal flowers of winter. The sporadic burgeoning pattern of these shards were like the chaotic dancing of nightmarish demons that haunted the withered ruins of an empire that has been trodden under by the unforgiving iron hooves of time; and were almost impossible to dodge, wounding Seth as the gelid razor edge of one such frost blades grazed his stifle.

"Keep your eyes peeled." Sam commanded telepathically as he and the rest of the pack charged in a coordinated formation to rescue the Clearwater siblings.

"Be careful. They are…." Leah tried to warn them but was interrupted as she jumped out of the way from being squashed by Krehonryx's mace, which upon impact, easily shattered to dust a sizable rock behind her.

"More of them." Suhgurim hissed calculatingly, pointing one of his swords to the bearing of the reinforcements.

"Burn!" Krehonryx said in a deeply foreboding roar as he swung his torch in a horizontal slash towards the charging pack of Quileute shape-shifters, causing multiple bolts of strange viridian flames to shoot out, culminating in to violent explosions as they impacted the ground.

One of the said bolts barely missed Sam as it whizzed dangerously close to his side and exploded upon impacting a moss covered knoll, throwing Jared aback who was directly behind him, temporarily stunning the latter from the force of the blast.

Subsequently, Sughurim's wings spread widely and the lightning armor he donned visually intensified as he dropped in to a graceful free fall then subsequently strafed at them continuously with great aerial agility. Scooping the shape shifters one by one with the broad edge of his scythe like swords and at the same time electrocuting them before forcefully tossing his victims high in to the air only to flickeringly appear above the unfortunate souls and kick them back to the ground with great force.

Nonetheless, these terrifying display of power didn't make the shape-shifters' wills waver. If anything, the ensuing chaos has given them a new found reason and strength to fight, and they attacked the spirits head-on with even greater ferocity, making the latter fight for every inch of soil they thread upon.

The battle was indeed a magnificent sight. However, courageous might the wolves have been. It would seem that ultimately the spirits have the upper hand as they began to take the fight seriously and started unleashing more destructive attacks from their esoteric arsenal.

Through her mastery of nature's many cryptic secrets, Aldinach used her strange powers to infuse nature energy in to the surrounding area around her, giving them life that were subject to her will, allowing her to make drastic alterations in to the immediate environment's shape and form that to a third person's point of view would seem like that the entire landscape from which she stood was attacking her foe.

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Through the pack's telepathic link Sam coordinated an attack with Paul and Collin. They surrounded Aldinach in all directions and simultaneously lunged at her with lethal synchronicity. However, before their attack was able to connect, the flora and fauna along with other normally inanimate objects seemingly came to life to defend the spirit. Thorny branches and snake like vines entangled the wolves, coiling around their bodies like serpents which subsequently flicked them with great force to nearby trees and in to the stony ground.

With a few graceful flick from Aldinach' branch like digits she was able to command the elements and forge them in to powerful weapons that she proficiently utilized to combat her enemies, hurling invisible lances made of wind and purveying sharp shards of ice to bloom beneath the shape-shifters paws making it almost impossible to get near her, and in the few instances that a member of the pack get close enough for a melee attack it would prove disastrous as she simply nimbly evades the wolf's jaws followed by an immediate counter attack, rapidly slicing his assailant with the razor sharp edges of her fingers.

Jake's eyes widened as he saw his comrades lose ground against the strange entities. Then as he turned his head, he was stunned in horror as he saw Krehonryx's about to unleash his weapon upon him. For a split second the Quileute shape-shifter's entire life flashed before his eyes and he was certain that he's about to die.

However before the iron spikes of the mace was able to crush his skull a swirling ball of azure energy meet the frightening weapon head-on, deflecting the blow and subsequently causing it to shatter and splinter in to several pieces.

" _What just happened?"_ Jake thought, confused. Then as he raised his head he saw someone standing in front of him, confronting the angry Krehonryx. The glare of the sun made it difficult for him to see the face of his rescuer but he could clearly recognize the latter's golden blonde hair that shined dazzlingly from the bright rays of mid-day. There is no mistake, it was Naruto.

Jake never really knew much about Naruto, save for the fact that he was with the Cullens and at some point of time Leah imprinted on the blonde. He never really liked any of the Cullens due to the fact that the latter were considered to be an ancestral enemy of the tribe and also because of Bella and Edward's blooming romantic relationship which makes his blood boil. Nonetheless, he was grateful of Naruto for saving his life.

"Who are you who dared to come between me and my enemy?" Krehonryx inquired in a deep voice that was both riddled with anger and disbelief.

"I am Naruto Uzumaki of the hidden leaf." Naruto said confidently and without a single shred of fear from facing the wrathful rider who was standing at an imposing ten feet tall and whose bare hands was enough to crush a man's skull effortlessly. "You're a spirit right? Aren't you spirits supposed to be the guardians of nature…why are you attacking us?" He then inquired in a perplexed and somewhat disappointed tone.

"Impossible. You lie. All the shinobi are dead and the elemental nations has been unmade." Krehonryx said in further disbelief that quickly converted itself in to further rage. "Die!" He then roared as he swung his torch, bidding his mount to breathe fire and roast Naruto and the wolves alive.

Without reservation, the monitor exhaled deeply then subsequently expelled an intense stream of sulfur wreathed flames that almost instantly charred everything in its path and has made breathing extremely painful for the noxious fumes of brimstone turned in to sulfuric acid as it made contact with the water droplets in the air.

At the same time, Krehonryx pointed his torch to the shinobi's direction and blasted him with a whirlwind of viridian fire that swirlingly coalesced with his mount's breathe, in a somewhat similar fashion to a collaboration **jutsu**. The resulting attack culminated in to a gigantic fireball that expanded in to a sea of multi-hued flames making it extremely difficult to contain and all but impossible to avoid.

Foreseeing the impending attack Naruto quickly folded his hands in to seals. " **Doton: Doryūheki** " He then exclaimed as through his chakra he manipulated the preexisting earth and formed a solid wall of rock that has risen almost instantly from the ground.

The shape-shifters felt their hearts skip a bit as the blazing tidal wave smashed in to the rock wall that suddenly sprang in front of them. Naruto coated the said wall with his chakra and was supposed to be quite perdurable to most kinds of attack but it would seem that the flames beating upon it was also infused with nature energy and thus began to melt its way inch by inch in to the barrier.

"Right….I don't want to do this to you guys but you left me with no choice."Naruto sighed as ripples begin to form from his now slightly glowing purple eyes. " **Shinra Tensei**! **"** He then exclaimed causing a massive wave of repulsive force to emanate from his outstretched hand, blowing apart the wall he erected earlier along with Krehonryx's flame back to the rider in a chaotic spray of fiery and molten slag.

"It can't be…this power…" Krehonryx muttered to himself out of awe. Then as he lifted his head up he saw Naruto appear in front of him like a blur.

Flabbergasted, Krehonryx quickly lifted his torch to counter-attack and bash Naruto's skull but it was too late for the shinobi has already slammed his **rasengan** to the rider's chest, causing the latter to be dismounted from his charger and propelled in to a sharp trajectory in to the ground that subsequently cracked from the sheer force of impact.

"You will pay!" Sughurim hissed mirthlessly in a thin voice as he crossed his sword that purveyed bolts of lightning to emit from them and sweepingly dart towards Naruto.

At that very moment Naruto undone his **Rinnegan** and opted to shift in to sage mode since he realized that he could better combat the spirits in such a manner for the latter utilizes nature energy as a basis of their attacks. Since he passively absorbs nature energy the shinobi can instantly transform in and out of sage mode at will, eliminating the troublesome prerequisite of needing to be perfectly still to gather the said energy which leaves him vulnerable.

Soon yellow toad-like irides with orange pigmentation appeared around Naruto's eyes as he entered perfect sage mode. With the enhanced strength, speed, stamina, reflexes, perception, and durability granted by sage mode Naruto was easily able to dance around the raking bolts of lightning that was continuously being unleashed by Sughurim, much to the infuriation of the winged spirit.

Crackling bolts of frenzied fulmination then bathed the surrounding air as Sughurim's wrath visibly intensified. Afterimages accompanied by sonic booms formed as he strafed with unbelievable aerial suppleness, whizzing around with great speeds while executing a surgical strike with his now azure glowing blades that hummed forebodingly as they passed dangerously close to Naruto's throat, with the later narrowly avoiding their razor sharp edge.

Naruto then hurled a kunai towards Suhgurim which the latter dodge instinctively with ease. To the winged spirit's surprise however when the shinobi suddenly appeared behind him with a glowing sphere of spinning chakra in one hand which the latter tried to slam in to him but was able to avoid by the skin on his teeth.

" _What is this? What's happening?"_ Suhgurim thought as he delivered a spinning kick to the blonde's face. He knew that the kunai Naruto threw has something to do with how the latter was able to randomly vanish then appear behind him though the exact nature of the jutsu's workings has slightly perplexed the spirit for an effective countermeasure to be formulated.

Surprisingly, Naruto landed gracefully on his feet then subsequently hurled a volley of kunai. Suhgurim was well aware that the shinobi will attempt to manifest himself on any of the said kunais and has opted to counter-attack in a different manner by swiftly slashing his sword, creating a vacuum wave that deflected the speeding volley of projectiles and sent most of them right back to the shinobi.

The deflected kunais were scattered everywhere in the landscape while the ones that were sent whistling towards Naruto was easily dodged, deflected or caught again, only to be thrown back to the winged spirit like a deadly juggle between the two opposing forces.

Naruto once again disappeared, only to reappear on one of the kunai which made Suhgurim realize that the shinobi was teleporting, and he does this by using the said kunai as a medium. Gathering all his strength, Sughurim then unleashed a solid wall of lightning that expanded in every direction.

"It's over." Sughurim grinned as he saw with his narrow serpentine eyes how the shinobi's brain got fried by the devastating power of his attack. To his surprise however when 'Naruto' disappeared in a puff of smoke and multiple clones of him appeared in mid-air with their hands folded in to seals of different configurations.

" **Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu** " Some of the clones exclaimed as they kneaded chakra inside their bodies converting it in to fire which was subsequently expelled from their mouths in a continuous stream.

" **Fūton: Shinkūha** " The other clones exclaimed in sync with the others as they as they took a deep breath and spins while exhaling, compressing the released air into a solitary blades of wind that covered a substantial area around them, due to their circular motion.

As the jutsus coalesced it resulted in to intense streams of sharpened blasts with searing temperatures that cracked like firecrackers as they traveled until exploding violently upon impact with a surface.

Through his aerial fluidity Suhgurim was able to agilely evade the devastating attack by the shinobi. However, it was all a distraction as the original Naruto suddenly appeared in front of him. In a split second the winged spirit then executed a blinding horizontal slash but the shinobi was able to block it with a kunai thought it leaved his torso open.

Seeing the shinobi's vulnerability, Sughurim goes for the torso, delivering a powerful kick and quickly glimpsing at Naruto as his attack connected. Strangely, he saw a smile on the shinobi's face as the latter was sent tumbling back in a sharp trajectory but didn't impact the ground for he disappeared once again.

Sughurim scanned the ground fiercely but Naruto was nowhere to be found. "What the….but how…." He then muttered in surprise for next thing he knew was that he was spiraling down and feeling an incredible pain before impacting the ground with great force that a small crater formed around his body.

In reality, Naruto covertly placed a flying-thunder-god formula on to Sughurim's back as the latter delivered his kick then quickly **hiraishined** himself behind the winged spirit and slammed an **Ōdama Rasengan** in to the latter's spine that grinned itself violently at the point of contact then severely crushed the bones of his wings.

"What are you?" Flat on his back, Sughurim muttered with a weak and weary voice as he gazed upon Naruto with much awe before the cold and darkness overtook him and everything went blind.

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Aldinach hissed forebodingly as she saw her compatriots fall. "You!" She shrieked in thin a voice, subsequently slamming her hand to the ground that purveyed a great mass of razor sharp icicles to cascade in an overwhelming wave, shredding everything it came in contact with for the nature energy infused ice was seemingly stronger than steel.

" **Doton: Doryūheki** _"_ Naruto once again conjured a rock wall but made sure to pour more chakra on the jutsu. The massive forest of piercing icicles traveled with great speeds and expanded in every direction before grinding to a halt as it slammed in to the adamantine barrier the shinobi has erected.

The bone shearing sound of crushed rocks and violently shattering ice reverberated in to the air as the opposing elements collided with each other in to a brutal culmination, causing some of the sharpened ice pillars to be hurled high in to the air, subsequently tumble pass the wall then be embedded sharply in to the ground.

"Impressive." Naruto commended in a gentle voice. "Though I wonder how you guys knew how to use nature energy." He then continued inquisitively.

"The power of nature was always ours to guide and through it we have made the planet bloom. Long ago we thought your people how to harness it in hopes that the humans will be better individuals by appreciating harmony through being one with nature, we hoped that you will see past beyond your petty skirmishes and overcome the greed that consumes you…..but we were wrong…..your people corrupted the gift we shared to them and used nature energy to make war amongst themselves and kill each other more efficiently. Humanity is truly hopeless." Aldinach replied in a level-headed but odium filled voice.

"That I can't argue with you…but we humans aren't as hopeless as you think. This world is still on the process of maturing and though it is true that sometimes our path is headed to instability we do learn our lesson from the past to become better and wiser than we were." Naruto replied, acknowledging that nature energy has indeed been used by the shinobi as tool of war but disagreeing with regards to the spirit's views of humanity, though he realized that there is some truth to it.

"It doesn't matter. Humanity is doomed one way or another!" Aldinach then said coldly as she conjured a wave of penetrating frost from which she weaved slender lances of crystalline ice that was subsequently dragooned towards Naruto and the wolves.

Shockwaves formed as the lances traveled in to the air with great speeds and shattered in to a hail of sharp fragments when they impact a surface. Though surprisingly, neither Naruto nor the wolves were caught in tis lethal path for somehow they were able to evade the hissing projectiles unscathed.

"Surrender. You are outnumbered." Sam hissed while the rest of the pack surrounded Aldinach.

"Look, we don't want any more blood to be spilled." Naruto supplemented, trying to diffuse the situation.

In response Aldinach conjured an even more intense aura of frost that immediately started to pierce her opponents deep in to their marrow, gripping them in a cold embrace. The wolves yelped as rime formed on their fur from the bitter temperatures that smote sharply through their skin and has literally began to freeze their eyeballs.

At that very moment Naruto quickly made two shadow clones and formed a **Rasenshuriken** which he then hurled on to Aldinach at a distance, cutting the latter in half as the screeching vortex connected.

"Is it over? Is she dead" Seth inquired as he walk passed a particularly large shard of ice.

Out of sudden Aldinach emerge from the said shard of ice then grabbed Seth, injecting the latter with a venomous sap through her needle like fingers. "Bear this in mind. In time, our old masters will return….and the rivers of the Earth shall run red with blood." She then muttered a last soliloquy in a cold and impassive voice before vanishing like dissipating smoke.

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Everyone was horrified as they saw Seth convulsed and transformed back in to his human form from the immense pain. The skin around the wound were the vile toxin was injected has started to take a rough and bark like texture, and the veins surrounding it has visibly blackened from the venomous sap coursing through them.

"Seth!" Leah screamed in horror as she quickly went to her brother's side while Naruto and the wolves followed soon, worried.

Naruto mirthlessly scrutinized Seth's current condition and has concluded that Aldinach's sap was also infused with nature energy and in a way similar to Orochimaru's cursed marks but was designed to turn people in to trees as the victim was rarely able to balance the nature energy with their pgysical and spiritual energies.

"Naruto do something!" Leah frantically exclaimed as she transformed back to her human form and tears fell from her eyes.

Without reservation, Naruto draw out his six path sage chakra causing a golden shroud to engulf his body and through the said cloak he tried to remove the nature energy on the young shape-shifter's body but to no avail. Though it helped abate Seth's pain and delayed the transformation, the vitriolic toxin has latched itself irrevocably in to the latter's body and refused to be removed.

Naruto sighed as he continued to channel his chakra on to Seth, revising his original plan of removing the nature energy from the latter's body altogether and instead try to balance it out with his own chakra. He recalled his senjutsu training at of Mount Myōboku and remembered that the toads have a special staff that when struck can knock out all the nature energy out of a person.

" _If only the toads were here they would surely be able to figure a way."_ Naruto thought, though he knew that the toads along with the entire elemental nations are now long gone and if he was to save Seth he must concentrate all his faculties to the said effort and avoid being distracted by stray thoughts.

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(Clearwater's Residence)

Night has fallen as the rest of the pack waited anxiously outside with the exception of Jake who for reasons known only to himself has strayed away from the group while they made their way to the Clearwater's abode earlier that day.

It has been hours since Seth has been stung and his condition only progressively became worse. And though Naruto was able to delay the latter from succumbing to certain death, indeed the situation has not abated and was heading for the worse seeing that the former's skin has now turned rough and wood like, and has taken the hue of a decomposing cedar tree.

Streams of tears continued to flow from Sue's eyes and in to her face seeing his son in such a horrifying condition and though she tried to be strong, the torturous thought of losing him loomed forebodingly in her thoughts.

Leah on the other hand can't help but blame herself as she sat under a tree outside their house where no one could see her cry. Have she not been so stubborn and retreated temporarily this wouldn't happen, she thought.

For hours now, Naruto channeled his chakra on to the Seth at a frequent interval and it the tedious process has him quite exhausted.

"Kid….I'm sorry to say this but we can no longer do anything for him. The spirits' mastery of nature energy is far more advanced for us to counter the effects." Kurama said in a solemn voice inside of Naruto's head.

"We can't give up Kurama." Naruto replied as he continued to channel his chakra, though he himself was losing hope.

"Naruto." Kurama said in a low voice as he somberly looked at the shinobi then shook his head, conveying that the battle was lost.

"No" Naruto dejectedly muttered as he himself was about to give up and cease channeling his chakra to Seth.

"Naruto…please tell me that he's gon'na be alright." Sue stutteringly inquired as she entered the room.

"Sue, I'm sorry…but the damage was too intensive for me to…" Naruto replied solemnly but wasn't able to continue his sentence as he saw Sue breakdown in to tears.

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All hope was seemingly lost when Jake arrived at the Clearwater's house. The atmosphere was charged with an uncertainty and heavy with despair. Oh his way he saw Leah sitting glumly under the shadowy canopy of a tree, silently crying in anguish.

"Jake… where have you been?" Flummoxed, Leah inquired as she wiped her tears upon seeing him.

Jake was silent for a while and couldn't utter any reply. "How's he?" He then queried in a serious tone.

"Bad….he's dying." Leah somberly mumbled in an almost inaudible voice.

"Come, we may still be able to save him." Jake said as he continued, leaving Leah a bit dazed but was hopeful that the latter has indeed procured a means to save her brother's life.

The moment he entered Seth's room Jake saw Sue tearfully weeping as she hugged her son who was slipping further and further in to death. Then reaching to his pocket he pulled out a small crimson colored semi-flat stone with a strange rune cleanly carved at its center.

"What?" Jake queried rhetorically in a annoyed tone as he noticed Naruto curiously looking at him and at the blood-tinged pebble on his hand as if the latter felt something amiss or was contemplating of the stone's purpose.

"What's that in your hand?" Naruto inquired as he felt a strange sensation from the stone. He felt that arcane energy was flowing from the rune at its center, causing invisible ethereal rays of unknown properties to be emitted from it.

"Mind your own business." Jake impassively sniffed as he walk passed through Naruto, reminding the latter that he is but an outsider and doesn't have the right to ask such questions.

To this Naruto was silent though he can't help but wonder where or how Jake obtained such an esoteric item, though at the back of his head he had a clear suspicion where he got it.

Suddenly, Jake then asked Sue and Naruto to leave the room for a while. They hesitated but eventually complied as he persuaded them by promising that everything will be alright. Though unknown to him, Naruto was discomfited that something might go wrong so the latter covertly conjured a cloaked shadow clone to observe and intervene in case things went from bad to worse.

The clone then saw Jake place the stone on Seth's hand and utter a word from a language he never heard before that purveyed the rune to glow effulgently. Subsequently, he saw Seth breathe a sigh of relief as Aldinach's black viscous sap was beginning to be expelled from his body and extruded through his wounds like mercury pouring out of a broken thermometer.

"Is everything alright?" Sue said as she barged in, no longer able to contain her worries. To her surprise however when she saw Seth open his eyes and spoke.

"I'm hungry. Can I get some food around here?" Though still weak, Seth tried to crack a joke to try and ease Sue's nerves knowing that her mother was worried sick.

"Seth. I'm so glad you're alright." Sue said as she hugged her son ardently.

"I'll get you something from the fridge." Jake said smiling though he had the displeasure of sharing an uncomfortable gaze with Naruto as he was making his way out of the door.

"Naruto" Seth said sheepishly in a weak voice that piqued the attention of the blonde.

"Yeah?" Naruto responded in a curious voice and with a confused but somewhat delighted countenance on his face. It's the first time Seth called him by his name or even talked to him in manner that was not irritated or a mocking.

"Thanks" Seth muttered sheepishly, grateful of Naruto.

"It's actually Jake who saved you. It's him you should give thanks to, really." Naruto said humbly as he chuckled in a jovial manner while scratching the back of his head.

"I know how much effort you exerted to try and keep me alive. I'm a bit embarrassed of how I treated you lately. I'm sorry." Seth then said as he tried to get up and extend a hand of friendship to the blonde.

"Don't worry about it Seth. So, friends?" Naruto said with an amicable beam as he shook Seth's hand.

"Friends" Seth smilingly replied in a gentle but jovial voice, acknowledging the shinobi as his friend, comrade and future brother in law.

 **-End**

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 **Hey there folks!**

 **I hope you enjoyed reading. I decided to extend the story a few more chapters in order to hopefully give more dimension to the overall plot before the finale.**

 **Anyways, there was some fight scene in this chapter but not as DBZ as the previous battles due to the fact that this chapter mainly revolves on the ripples caused by Naruto's actions and how his relationship with the shapeshifter's (Seth and Jake in particular) is beginning to be shaped. Oh and if you're wondering, the spirits aren't really malevolent by nature they just don't like humans as the latter has duped them one too many times.**

 **See you awesome people next chapter!**

 **Cheerio :)**


	18. Chapter 18: Lament of the Stars

Time has passed swiftly like wheezing clouds riding at the back of a heavenly gust. It has been a year and many things has occurred in such a short stretch of time, some are joyous and others were concerning. Around this time Bella turned eighteen and was nearly killed by Jasper if it weren't for Edward and Naruto's intervention due to a paper cut that sent the vampire in to frenzy upon smelling her blood.

This has made things complicated and the thought of leaving Forks to ensure Bella's safety has played within Edward's mind. Luckily, it would seem that luck is smiling upon on them for Naruto was able to exonerate the predicament before it got worse enough to prompt the Cullen's to leave, much to everyone's relief.

However, as things seemingly began to quell, news with regards to the Olympic coven's relations with Bella reached the ears of the Volturi. Needless to say they were not pleased at all and this displeasure was voiced out to Carlisle in particular, but despite all the harsh words and posturing they did not issue an order to execute the Cullen's out of fear of Naruto's wrath, they did however commanded the Cullen's to turn Bella in to a vampire or kill her in pursuant to laws of their kind, which the latter coven hesitantly agreed to the former in order to avoid conflict. And thus, an agreement was formed between the two powerful groups. The Volturi agreed to let Bella live if she would be changed the soonest, and though Bella was willing to undergo the process, Edward was hesitant and wanted to preserve her humanity.

Save for the healthy fear of Naruto, another reason why Aro decided to forge a treaty with the Cullen's is because she found Bella's 'gift' to block psychic attacks quite interesting that he duplicitously ordered one of his elite guards to act as his hidden eyes and ears due to the latter's ability to cloak his presence.

Naruto knew about this but he opted to tolerate the vampire's presence and let him believe that he was observing them undetected, though it wasn't the case for he could perfectly sense the Volturi guard's position and intent with absolute clarity and resolution.

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(Bella's House)

Charlie was still in uniform from a day at the police station. His brows were furrowed with concern from an article hew was reading at the Seatle times headlining the following in bold letters. _"Murders, disappearances, Possible work of a serial killer."_

He felt worried for Bella as he checked the time. It was just a few seconds before four o'clock but before the second hand of his wrist watch was able to complete its cycle the door opened and the Bella ingresses the threshold of their home, giving him much relief.

"Four o'clock on the dot. That kid try to brown nose me now or something?" Charlie said in a suspicious yet dry humored manner.

"He has a name. Now he's too punctual for you?" Bella smirked lightly in reply.

"Okay" Charlie sighed. "You understand why you're being punished right?" He then inquired father to daughter in a gentle but stern tone as he placed his newspaper on the table.

"I know, I put you through hell." Bella replied sheepishly.

"Yes, you did." Charlie supplemented. "But I have other reasons for grounding you….like ughh…I just wanted you to get some separation from him." He then continued uncomfortably, choosing his words carefully to address his teen daughter.

Bella winced, she couldn't help but get a little mad at Jacob for he and a yet unknown accomplice has purposely devised a way to get her grounded in hopes that it will prevent her from spending time with Edward, her boyfriend; and it worked, Charlie has placed a curfew between her and Edward as part of the punishment, only allowing the latter to visit his daughter between seven to nine-thirty pm and under the glare of his strict supervision. "Dad there's nothing you can say. Edward is my life" She then said without hesitation that made Charlie turn his gaze from her to ponder things in relative dejection.

"Yeah, I'm getting that." Charlie sighed as he sipped his beer. "So I'll make a deal with you... No more being grounded...if you use your new freedom to see your other friends, too ...like Jacob." He continued but saw Bella's face darken as she heard his conditions "He's going to a really tough time right now. His dad that was really worried. I remember when that was you. You needed a friend, Jake was there." He then said, concerned. Jacob was like a son to him and it also pains him to see the latter in such a state, and frankly he prefers the Jacob for Bella over Edward any day.

Later that day Bella called Jake but he didn't answer, for a week she repeatedly tried to call him in hopes that he will pick-up the phone and talk to her but the results were same as before so, worriedly, she opted to go to his house and pay him a visit.

Bella hopped on her truck, placed the key in to the ignition and turned it but it won't start. Then she was startled as she moved his head and saw Edward suddenly sitting in the passenger seat.

"You scared me." Bella said, catching her breath. Though she knew that she have to be be used to it by now.

"You're going to the reservation." Edward said in a velvety voice.

"How did you….Alice had a vision." She was about to inquire how Edward found out but half-way to her sentence she was able to deduce how. "Hey did you do this to my truck?" She then irately continued as she realized further realized that Edward is preventing her from going to the reservation.

"Bella you have to understand, your safety is everything to me."

"Jacob is not gon'na hurt me."

Not intentionally but the wolves have no control…." Edward tried to further dissuade Bella but was cutoff.

"Edward…I have until graduation to see him…and I will be one of you and he'll hate me forever." Bella retorted, disgruntled.

"I'm sorry." Edward said in a sad tone. He felt bad for not letting Bella to visit her friend but he knew that the risk is too great and he could never forgive himself if any danger befalls on her.

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(Black's Residence)

It was raining hard, the night skies were blotted by dark billows of cumulonimbus that crackled with lighting and shortly followed by the boom of thunder. Billy Black sat on his wheel chair, worried about his son. Then suddenly he heard voices coming out of Jacob's room as if the owners of these said voices were talking about something serious so he decided to investigate.

As he got close he immediately recognized that the one currently speaking behind the door was Jacob, though the other one was a mystery to him; judging by the sound of the latter's voice and cultured accent and the way he pronounced his words with slow but precise articulation, Billy deduced it to be that of a foreign teen boy with probably an upper-class upbringing and was roughly the same age of his son however he couldn't recognize it belonging to any of Jacob's friends. It made him curious and a bit anxious so he decided to eavesdrop on their conversation, though doing so made him feel a bit more uneasy.

"I can't….I can't face her right now." Jacob said in a confused tone with a trace of anger directed towards Edward.

"Bella has been deliberately avoiding me and hasn't talked to me for months now, no bloody thanks to the Cullens of course…..you know you're lucky she's still trying to reach out to you, in fact she was planning to visit you today, or rather tonight, if it weren't for the misfortune of Edward sabotaging her truck." Billy heard the other boy talk in a solemn voice at first but managed to pull up and later on tried to encourage Jacob to talk to Bella.

"What did that he do again?" Jacob was startled upon hearing what happened, prompting him to fumingly inquire rhetorically. Soon his hatred for the vampire flared up to the point that he wanted to rip him apart.

"Calm down. A bad temper wouldn't get you anywhere but more trouble Jake."

"I really hate that…that leech!" Jacob said as he slammed his fist to his desk, warping its wooden surface. "Is there any chance you could….you know…fix him." He then asked his friend vaguely though the other boy knew exactly what he meant.

"I could recite a little incantation and cast a barrier that will repel Edward and prevent him from getting too close to Bella, however….." The other boy said but seemingly hesitated to continue.

"What?" Jacob inquired, seeing nothing wrong with the plan.

"Well, you see, I reckon that Naruto could easily undo my enchantment. Worst still, if Bella uncovers our deception she will surely hate us, forever."

"What should we do then?" Jacob sighed.

"I don't know my friend…..I don't know." The other boy replied glumly as he realized that they were seemingly fighting a losing battle.

At that very moment Billy opened the door and saw Jacob but didn't see anyone else. "Jake, good to see you back in the house….but…I could have sworn hearing you talking to someone." Billy said awkwardly as he swept his head back and forth, scanning the room and looking for the person Jacob was talking to earlier.

"Yeah, I was talking to Embry on the phone." Jacob lied. His voice had a slight tremble in to it but nonetheless it sounded convincing enough.

"Embry huh? What's with the plummy accent? Is he's trying to impress the ladies with it or something? He sounds like that bad guy from Shanghai Knights" Billy quipped in a tranquil voice. He knew very well that his son was lying to him though he opted to let it slide for the time being. "Anyway, Bella called twice today, asking if you're okay. Why don't you call her back?" He then continued in an encouraging tone.

To this Jacob was stoic and silent. Reservedly, he contemplated to call Bella back but was worried of how things would turn out.

"Well, if you made up your mind the phone is just right there." Billy encouraged lightheartedly, tilting his head to the phone's direction before he egressed the room, hopeful that Jacob will eventually patch things up with Bella.

"Shanghai Knights, really?" The other boy sardonically commented with a furrowed brow in sarcastic derision as he rematerialized after making sure Billy was gone.

"He watches a lot of Jacky Chan movies….so, yeah." Jacob shrugged though he himself can't help but let out a smirk.

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(Cullen's House)

It was already past one in the morning when Edward made it back to their house, making sure that Bella was asleep and safe.

"How is she?" Alice inquired as soon as Edward entered the portals of their house.

"She's a little miffed but it will pass." Edward replied, there was a trace of dejection in his voice.

"You did the right thing." Out of sudden Naruto appeared in his pajamas and wearing a goofy sleeping cap. He just went to get a glass of water but heard the conversation on his way and decided to join in.

"Nice pajamas Naruto." Alice giggled.

"Thanks Alice, though let's not allow its awesomeness to stray us away from the topic." Naruto jested jovially with a big smile on his face. "It's better safe than sorry ya'know. There are times when a wolf cannot restrain the intensity of his emotions and usually bad things follow after that." Naruto then continued sagaciously.

"I know. I'm worried that he might lose control and hurt Bella." Edward responded. "Wait, are you speaking out of experience?" He then inquired with a curious expression on his face that cleverly guised a suppressed grin.

"Part of it, yeah. About a century ago when I first arrive in this country, I heard stories of shape-shifters from the Quileute tribe who can change in to wolves at will. At first I thought that they were descendants of the Inuzuka clan who somehow survived the cataclysm and evolved the ability overtime so I disguised myself as an anthropologist and studied them."

"Inuzuka clan?" Alice inquired with a confounded countenance on her face upon hearing the unfamiliar words.

"They were a clan of shinobi famous on their use of ninken as fighting companions." Naruto tried to explain but noticed the confused expression on his siblings faces.

"What is a ninken?" Edward inquired, bewildered.

"It's shinobi stuff. Look, I'll tell you all about it later, okay" Naruto said as he massaged the bridge of his nose, a bit exasperated from the interjecting child-like curious inquiries of his siblings that constantly interrupted his story. "Anyways….I've learned that once shape-shifters phased in to his wolf form their emotions are amplified in to a degree that is rarely experienced by an ordinary human being. This could be a double edged sword for them as love borders obsession, anger easily becomes unrestrained rage and the pain of grief are more often than not maddening and most of the time lethal to them." He then continued explaining in a philosophical yet not to preachy tone allowing his siblings to have an insight on the shape-shifters point of view.

"I see." Edward said in hollow voice, pondering of what he just heard. "Though, honestly I was expecting something in line of Leah losing control over you." He then continued with a smile playing in the edges of his lip.

"Well, there's that too. She tried to hit me with a wrench the second time we met." Naruto laughed with a lighthearted chuckle as he reminisced that day, making both Edward and Alice chuckle as well from hearing the story of their golden haired sibling.

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(Forks High School – Cafeteria)

As Edward and Bella walked in to their table at cafeteria they've immediately noticed a playful fuss among their friends. Apparently they were brainstorming, giving Jessica advice what to say on her graduation speech.

"Hey" Eric greeted.

"Just in time. Alright, check it out." Mike supplemented, pointing a pencil. "My fellow students. Right?" He then began reading that made Jessica closed her eyes skeptically.

"Yeah" Eric muttered as if biding him to continue.

"Right?" We are the future. Anything is possible if you just believe". Mike then continued while swinging his pencil like a conductor's baton as he spoke.

"Nice" Eric commented while Angela giggled, though they can't help but think that it sounded a little cliché.

"Blah…blah…blah. Perfect, there you go, I just wrote your speech." Mike said with an accomplished, self-satisfied smile as he tossed the note with the speech over to Jessica.

"No, this will be my speech when I want everyone to throw diplomas at my head." Jessica said as she crumples the paper with the speech in it and playfully throws it at Mike. "So….thank you." To their surprise and amusement, Mike's cheeky facial expression remained unfazed as the paper ball hit his head.

"You got to embrace the chase Jess." Mike said, still donning the cheeky smile.

"Yeah, we are the bread and butter of all valedictorians." Eric spoke as Mike pointed his finger at him while looking at Jessica as if saying _"Listen to this guy he knows his stuff."_

"Hmm, and that is why you aren't a valedictorian." Angela hummed that made everyone snigger.

"It just doesn't need clichés. The speech is gon'na be epic." Bella said encouragingly with a smile playing at the edges of her lips.

"Epic? It'll change lives" Jessica said, a bit indignant.

Suddenly they saw Alice and Jasper heading their way and finally joining their table. Alice has a mischievous smile on her face as if she's up to something that made Edward a bit exasperated.

"I've decided to throw a party." Alice announces, shocking everyone and adding to the exasperation of Edward who could only roll his eyes in response.

"After all, how many times are we gon'na graduate highschool." Jasper muttered, it was actually a disguised jest for those who understand what he's talking about.

"A party…at your place?" Angela asked with a partially confused expression on her face.

"I've never seen your house." Jessica commented in a hollow voice.

"No one's ever seen their house." Eric whispered as he leaned over to her.

"Another party Alice?" Edward queried with a weary voice.

"It'll be fun." Alice insisted, giving Edward a persuading look.

"Yeah, that's what you said last time." Bella muttered. The last party Alice threw was a complete disaster with Jasper nearly killing Bella.

Hearing this Jasper can't help but feel a little bit guilty and there was a moment of awkward silence between him, his siblings and Bella.

"Hey what's going on you guys!" Naruto jovially greeted as he joined the crowd.

"Alice is throwing a party." Edward said in a dry tone.

"That's great!" Naruto reacted with childish enthusiasm. "After all, were only gon'na graduate highschool once, right?" He then quipped covertly, winking at Bella and his siblings that made Jasper smile and Edward to shake his head.

Out of sudden, Alice was silent as she stared blankly in to the air, having a vision. Bella and the Cullen's immediately noticed this though they could only hope that it isn't bad news.

Edward face darkened however as she read Alice's mind and saw what she saw. It was the Volturi, apparently for some reason they are now aware that Bella is still human.

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(Volterra, Italy – Earlier That Day)

Seemingly, it was just another ordinary day at the tourist trap town of Volterra. Aro, Marcus, Caius and the others have just finished dinning on some unfortunate tourists who have been lured to serve as providence for the immortals.

Suddenly, the hardwood portals of the chamber opened and a tall man with long pale blonde hair entered the chambers, he then anxiously walked forward to the coven leaders then paused as he made a bow of obeisance.

"Ah Lucius, It's a shame you missed dinner." Aro greeted with a bright disposition. "What news from our friends in Forks." He then queried.

"Not good master. The girl, Bella, she's still human." Lucius answered mirthlessly. He has been sent to Forks to serve as a spy for the Volturi due to his unique ability to mask his presence.

"How unfortunate." Marcus commented in a dry and desultory tone.

"My my, what should we do." Aro said with a superficially concerned expression on his face. Deep inside, however, he was as outraged as Caius though he knew that he cannot simply dispose of the Cullens as he wish.

"This is an outrage. They mock us with all this delays. We should make an example of them." Caius hissed, his sadistic red eyes hungry for death.

"We must not forget what happened last time." Marcus said perfunctorily, pertaining to how Naruto easily killed four of their elite guards in the past.

"We should not let them make a mockery of us." Caius replied, though there was a slight trace of fear on the loathing in his voice. He remembered quite clearly what happened that day and has developed a healthy fear of the shinobi, though he cannot lose face in front of his subordinates.

"Brothers…It is no secret that the Cullens have a powerful ally on their side but that is no reason to disobey the laws of our kind." Aro said astutely, garnering the full attention of his peers.

"What do you have in mind?" Marcus queried.

"I think this would be a good time to pay a friendly visit to our friends in the US, it has been a while since I had a pleasant conversation with Carlisle. Perhaps this would be a perfect opportunity to discuss our growing concern with their current activities." Aro replied tranquilly with a shrewd smile on his face which made Caius and Jane grin as well.

"There is one more thing master." Lucius said apprehensively in an awkward voice that caught the attention of everyone. "Bella is being protected by two vampires of a different lineage from ours, they are ancient and powerful beyond anything I've ever seen. They easily circumvented and broke through my stealth, and promptly sensed my presence. They could have instantly killed me then and there but spared my life so that I could deliver a message to you." He then continued, making Caius's brow furrow and aroused Marcus's long dead curiosity, though Aro maintained his composure and seemingly quite interested to hear more.

"Is this your idea of a joke!" Caius stood from his throne, enraged.

"Silence brother." Aro said, chastising Caius. "Tell me." He then bade Lucius to continue.

"They said that it is not their business what we do to the Cullens, emphasizing that they couldn't care less. However, they made it clear that we should leave Bella out if it. They also said that while they cannot physically force us to cooperate exactly there is something they want us to bear in mind…..if Bella is harmed in any way their lord will come here to incinerate us personally and bathe Volterra in our ashes." Lucius said in a nervous voice fearing how his masters will react to the message, especially Aro.

Caius was silent, though the scowl in his face worsened in to a degree that even the most senior members of the elite guard rarely see.

"It would seem that Forks has lately been the epicenter of curious things." Marcus commented.

"How interesting." Aro said ponderingly. "Imagine if they are on our side." He then grinned forebodingly as a cunning plan hatched inside his head.

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(Cullen's Residence – Later That Day)

"What?" Rosalie reacted both worriedly and huffily as she found out about Alice's vision.

"Calm down Rosalie." Edward said.

"No, I told you before. All of us could be implicated if this continues, but you didn't listen….well, congratulations now it's happening." Rosalie responded scathingly, making Edward roll his eyes.

"Ok let's all calm down." Carlisle said paternally in a sere but gentle voice.

"Don't worry Rosalie. I made sure those three learned a thing or two since our last confrontation." Naruto said pertaining to Aro, Marcos and Caius, making sure that the three won't make the same mistake. I somehow gave Rosalie respite, knowing that Naruto is there to protect the family, to insulate them from the Volturi's wrath, though she kept the sour face to show her disapproval and dislike for Bella.

"There's one thing I don't understand." Jasper hummed contemplatively.

"What is it?" Naruto queried.

"How did the Volturi know about Bella still being human?" Jasper responded, looking at Naruto in both confusion and curiosity.

"Come to think of it, I was wondering the same thing." Esme supplemented.

"Well you see the Voturi sent a spy to…well…spy on us. He has the ability to hide his presence from other people so you guys might have not sensed him at all."Naruto then explained in a progressively sheepish voice as the faces of his family began to be filled with annoyance upon hearing it while they all looked at him incredulously.

"Naruto, why haven't you told us earlier?" Carlisle queried calmly, knowing that the blonde has a perfectly good reason why he kept it from them.

"Yeah, I'm dying to know why indeed." Rosalie said sarcastically with a raised brow, making the shinobi childishly pout in derision.

"Well you see it's like this." Naruto started. "I just thought that it would be best to let their spy observe us as much as he wants since were not really hiding anything from him and his masters. That way the Volturi would stop being so paranoid knowing that we're not really a threat to them, except if they attacked us first which, they also know, would end quite badly for them." He then continued, explaining the wisdom of his decision.

"Come to think of it, it does make sense." Emmett said as he thought about it, agreeing on Naruto though he was instantly chastised in to silence as he saw Rosalie glaring at him.

"Well a little heads up next time doofus." Rosalie said irately, though deep inside she was smiling like a sister that was secretly proud of the genius of his sibling.

"Sure thing princess." Naruto quipped that made everyone smile, even Rosalie and Edward.

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(Port Angeles – The Next Day)

It was Sunday, the skies were gloomy but no rain fell from the heavens. Naruto and Leah decided to meet at the ramen bar they usually frequent. It reminds them of Ramen Ichiraku, and like the latter restaurant, that small establishment was witness to many unforgettable links in their recent life; it is the place where they first met and became friends until their friendship developed in to a blossoming love that was pure, sublime and divine; beyond most people can experience in their lifetime—and indeed beyond it.

"Hey, if it isn't my two favorite customers. How are we doing today?" The chef greeted amicably as Naruto and Leah, entered the portals of the ramen bar.

"We're good, thanks." Naruto replied jovially as ever while Leah smiled in greeting. The chef both reminded them of Teuchi and the memories they had back in the hidden leaf.

"So what can I get you folks?" The chef said, taking their order.

"I'll have the usual please. A big bowl of miso ramen with extra onsen tamago….on second thought make that extra everything." Naruto said with a big smile on his face.

"And for the beautiful lady." The chef then turned to Leah to get her order.

"I'll have the same please." Leah said with a gentle smile.

"Ok, two orders of miso ramen with extra…uhhm, everything coming up." The chef said then left to assemble their order.

"Ah ramen, oh sweet ramen…I could always taste you're delicious goodness." Naruto murmured as he rubbed his hands together while drooling and imagining himself slurping the soba noodles along with that savory broth.

It made Leah cringe a bit for Naruto's face at that moment was akin to that of a lecherous old man secretly and excitedly peeking on the nude young ladies at a bath house. At the same time, it made her a bit suspicious that the blonde may be thinking about another girl….a younger and more beautiful one.

"Just try to cheat on me and I'll castrate you with my bare hands." Leah comically mumbled with a clenched fist, and from the fist there was a cruciform popping vein that throbbed in sync with her rising temper.

"Are you ok Leah?" Naruto asked worriedly, seeing how Leah suddenly became silent and heard her loosely murmured something though it was out of earshot and he couldn't make out of the words she said.

"Yes!" Leah roared that made chills run down Naruto's spine. "Do I look like I'm not ok to you? Huh?" She then inquired menacingly with a hissing voice that made the shinobi shiver from fear like a child who had a close encounter with the boogeyman.

"No…you…you look totally fine." Naruto replied in awkward, elongated cadence as Leah's piercing glare went right through him like a hail of arrows. _"Jeez, is she PMSing or something. I could safely say that I can now relate to Emmett's pain every time Rosalie decides to go bat crap crazy on him...which is often."_ He then thought while he tried to smile but an awkward nervous grin emanated on his face instead.

"Is there another girl?" Leah sniffed while giving Naruto an ungentle look, trying to control her temper in an epic battle of suspicion and trust.

"Of course not." Naruto said defensively.

"Are you sure?" Leah queried incredulously while the ungentle glare in her eyes intensified as if scanning every fiber of his being, searching for that one particular lie that will serve as an equitable reason for her to castrate him.

"Yes." Naruto replied truthfully through his quivering lips.

"Good" Leah said with a foreboding smile. "I hate to see anything happen to you. I do enjoy our dinners together." And so she issued a subtle threat that submerged Naruto in a world of unfathomable terror, numbing his senses as if a bucket of ice has been poured directly above his head. "I'll just go to the ladies room, okay." She then said with a smile as if nothing happened.

"Okay" Naruto muttered while staring blankly in to the air as Leah left the table.

"Orders up. Two large bowls of miso ramen with extra everything." The chef said enthusiastically as he placed the steaming bowls of ramen on the table but noticed the stunned expression on Naruto's face. "Something wrong kid?" He then inquired paternally.

"I've seen and survived things that could make anyone else insane instantly but I've never felt so afraid in my entire life until just a minute ago." Naruto said as he started to recount what happened earlier.

"Wow kid that's though." The chef recoiled after hearing Naruto's story.

"Any advice?" Naruto inquired, hopeful that the chef could share his some of his wisdom with regards to the matter.

"Yeah, good luck kid." The chef jested before comically poofing back to his kitchen.

"Thanks a lot." Naruto said sarcastically with a deadpan expression on his face.

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(Bella's House)

Night has begun to fall as the saffron rays of the setting sun have ebbed in to the horizon. Inside her room, Bella lay on her bed thinking about Edward. The latter couldn't visit her tonight due to the fact that he and his family will be hunting for their sustenance. She felt a yearning for the vampire, even in the short interim that they weren't together is like centuries of desolating isolation; she felt a pain and longing that she couldn't even begin to comprehend much less explain, it felt as if a part of her soul is being ripped apart from her mortal body just to be with him.

As she leaned forward on her bed she caught a glimpse of the dream catcher Jacob gave her as a present for her eighteenth birthday. She couldn't help but feel nostalgia reminiscing the times they had together as friends and the sadness as they fall apart due to the unfortunate circumstance, though a spark of hope still remained in heart that they would eventually patch things up and their friendship would be restored.

She then realized how drastically her life changed these past few months, the things she witnessed in such a short time in Forks was far more astonishing than the experience she had throughout the combined links of her past years. She was made aware of the existence of vampires, werewolves and things that just earlier she knew to only exist in the lore of mythology and fantasy, and yet they were real – real and very much dangerous.

Bella then decided to get off her bed as the notions running through her head became more and more confusingly and unbearable. Composing herself, she then went to the kitchen and started cooking dinner.

Suddenly the phone rang, it was Charlie, he's gon'na be working late, investigating the series of strange murders that has been occurring lately; the victims of which were killed in a fashion very similar to how Waylon Forge was slain. He has been dead for a year now, and his case still unsolved. The police speculated that it was the work of a serial killer who seemingly ended his hiatus and once again embarked in to a grisly rampage. However, Bella knew better, she was aware that the killings were the work of a vampire.

Then looking at the window she saw the black 2009 Porsche Carrera-GT parked at their driveway. Alex sold it to Charlie for an unbelievably cheap price in order to brown nose her father for an intuitively obvious agenda. Just a few months ago she decided to severe her friendship with the young man per Edward and Naruto's advice, citing that the he isn't human and is quite dangerous; and though he did try many times to rekindle their friendship Bella refused his efforts every time to point where the former also seemingly lost hope though was still quite cordial to her.

Bella remembered that just a few days ago Alex diffidently tried to greet her at school while she was walking by the hallway near his locker. She still vividly recalled how he smiled awkwardly and waved at her in the same timid manner, probably hoping she'll smile back, but she didn't, deciding to ignore him, walking continuously as if she didn't saw anyone, passing by him with neither a word nor a glance. However, glimpsing on the reflection of a small mirror that hanged on a nearby open locker door, she saw the crestfallen young man glumly walked in to the opposite direction. She also noticed that his hair has now grown at shoulder length and his skin became paler like marble bathed in moonlight, and there were also what looked like dark rings around his eyes as if they were bright blue stars surrounded by the darkness of the void.

She heard from Mike and Eric that Alex is acting kind of weird and has become more and more reclusive these past few days, never venturing out of the sun, preferring to stay in the shade while dolefully reading a book rather than to socialize with his friends, a stark contrast to his outgoing personality they once knew him for.

Angela also mentioned Alex's strange tendency to bail out or just suddenly disappear moments before she and the Cullens arrive as if he has an extra sensory perception for it. This has caused Tyler, Eric and Mike to poke fun out of it by pretending like news anchors announcing a newsflash that she and Edward is about to arrive.

Then as all the pieces of the puzzle fit together in place Bella came to the horrifying conclusion that Alex might have been changed in to a vampire and was responsible for the murders that has been occurring lately.

Out of sudden a hand reached out to her shoulder, it was cold and hard like a stone. Bella was instantly overtaken by fear that she tried to scream but no voice came out of her mouth. She then moved away as fast as she could and grabbed the pepper spray in her pocket, pointing its nozzle instinctively towards her assailant. To her surprise however when she found out that it was just Edward.

"Are you ok Bella." Edward asked worriedly.

"You really startled me." Bella replied, gasping. "I thought you were…." She then continued but hesitated.

"Who?" Edward queried with a furrowed brow.

"Nothing. I thought you're someone else." Bella replied. She noticed a slightly perplexed countenance on Edwards face while his lips was pressed together in a straight line as if a certain satisfaction wasn't met by her answer.

"Are you sure you're alright Bella?" Edward asked again but this time in a more serious tone.

"Yes. I'm good." Bella assured him. "I thought you were hunting tonight?" She then inquired confused.

"Yes, well…for some reason your image flashed inside my head so I decided to drop by to make sure everything's ok." Edward explained, relieved to see that Bella is well.

"The killings that has been happening lately….it isn't the work of a vampire, is it?" Bella inquired though she already knew the answer, wanting Edward to confirm it.

Edward was silent for a long second. "Yes" He then answered, referring to the Volturi spy. "But don't worry about him. I'll never let him hurt you." He then said as he embraced Bella to try and comfort him.

"I know." Bella muttered as she hugged Edward back.

"Oh and one more thing." Edward said in a velvety voice that piqued the interest of Bella. From his pocket he then pulled out two airline tickets and smiled. "Why don't we get out of here for a few days, I heard the weather in Arizona is nice this time of year." He then said smiling, though in truth, he wanted to take Bella temporarily away from Forks knowing that the Volturi will come to visit in a few days.

 **End**

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 **Hey there folks!**

 **It has been a while since I updated. I hope you awesome people enjoyed reading.**

 **Cheerio :)**


	19. Chapter 19: The Proposal

(Clearwater's Residence)

It was early in the morning and Sue just finished making breakfast. In truth she got off her bed hours before dawn, unable to sleep. Pondering, she sat on the table anxiously as she sipped her coffee. For a few days now she couldn't help but notice her daughter's odd behavior; the latter was strangely moody than usual, not to mention the even more curious fact of the latter craving weird foods such as pickles, mayonnaise and pickles dipped in mayo.

Furthermore, she also noticed how Leah wanted Seth to always be on her side; threating him as if he was still a little boy, tenderly pinching his cheeks and smothering them with kisses for no reason at all, much to the dread and exasperation of the latter who found the sudden strange affection annoyingly uncanny.

If it wasn't peculiar enough, Sue also observed how Leah was seemingly easily irritated by Naruto in the minutest of reasons. Her blood boils even by the mention of the blonde's name but for some odd reason craves to see the latter and cannot stop talking about him in either a pleasant way or a topic to roast, citing that he better not cheat on her lest he wants the family jewels torn apart from the base of his nether region.

Being a nurse, and given the overwhelming factors presented to her, Sue could only conclude a single reason of her daughter's odd behavior. But before she could contemplate about it any further she saw Leah coming towards the kitchen, obviously just woke up judging by the messy hair and her sleep-walker like disposition.

"You're up early?" Sue smilingly greeted, surprised.

"Grhhrrrm" Leah groaned like a zombie, greeting back, seemingly still half-asleep as she grabbed a mug and poured herself some coffee.

However, before a drop of coffee touched her lips Leah suddenly felt as if her stomach plummeted and quickly ran towards the sink.

Sue quickly followed her daughter and rubbed her back as the latter expelled her dinner from the previous night. "Are you alright dear?" She then asked maternally.

"I feel a bit nauseous and dizzy." Leah replied. "I think it has something to do with what we ate last night." She then continued, lightly gasping.

"I don't think it's something you ate at all." Sue said under her breath thought Leah caught it.

"What do you mean?' Leah inquired, bewildered.

Sue sighed. Though she tried to be as calm and composed before uttering another word, as a mother she couldn't help but worry. "Leah….are you pregnant?" She then asked with sere solemnity.

Hearing the question, the expression on Leah's face instantly changed from confusion to shock. "What? No!" She then vehemently denied the allegation.

"Are you sure?" Sue queried again, this time with a furrowed brow and a non-judgmental but ever inquisitive look in her eyes, demanding the truth.

"I…I don't know" Leah muttered as she recalled not having her period for weeks now along with the fact of recurring day sickness has given much credence to her mother's conclusion and made her worriedly ponder things out.

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(Phoenix - Arizona)

The tedious flight from Forks to Phoenix was seemingly worth every waiting while as Bella peered on the plane's window and saw the scenic view of Arizona along the clear azure skies and the blazing summer sun that bathed the landscape with its effulgent and torrid rays.

Like a little girl, she excitedly got off the plane as soon as the captain announced that it's now safe to disembark, while Edward behind her followed like a shadow. He was clad in a gray V-neck shirt under a fashionable yet cloistered hoodie and wore dark sunglasses, exposing as little skin as possible to avoid attention once he stepped in to the sun.

"You look happy." Edward stated the obvious with a smile playing at the edges of her lip.

"I missed this place." Bella replied as she smiled back at him.

"Obviously." Edward playfully teased, seeing her girlfriend's puerile enthusiasm.

"Hey!" Bella chuckled lightheartedly in response as she held on to Edward's arm.

Out of sudden Bella heard a familiar voice, and as she turned her head to her shoulder she saw Renée eagerly waving at them along with her husband Phil. The latter two have been waiting for them to arrive.

Though Bella told Renée on the phone that they can manage the traverse from airport to their house, her mother insisted that they'll fetch them and will not take no for an answer. This is not only because she's excited to see her daughter in a relatively long while but was also curious to see Edward as well.

And what a catch indeed. Renée told herself under her breath for Edward was quite the looker. Tall, very handsome, a little bit reserved and seemingly quite intelligent. Now that she saw him first hand she immediately realized the reason behind Charlie's slightly perturbing paranoia over their daughter's relationship with him. It's because Edward Cullen is the type of boy Renée would've swoon over in her younger days and be the center of her universe, indeed if Bella inherited that trait from her then it could be potentially problematic.

"Mom" Bella greeted as she hugged Renée, severing the latter temporarily from her curious contemplation.

"Bella, I missed you." Renée said as she hugged her back. "….and you must be Edward." She greeted Edward cordially while her arms are still wrapped around Bella.

Edward smiled with a crooked grin in his face knowing what Renée was thinking about a few moments ago. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you." He then said politely in a velvety voice, greeting back.

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(Forks – Washington)

Seemingly the skies darkened with a portentous gloom, the air was heavy with disquietude and everyone was burdened with uneasiness for Alice has foresaw in her vision that the Volturi are now on their way and shall reach the Cullen's abode within minutes; and though the paramount coven announced in advance their sojourn to Forks, they have not disclosed the intention of their visit.

"I know this would happen. We should never have encouraged his relationship with Bella." Rosalie said in a tensed voice as she nervously paced back and forth the living room.

"Rosalie calm down." Alice said, trying to comfort her sibling.

"Yeah, calm down…." Rosalie responded sarcastically. "The Volturi are on their way here. It's a little bit difficult to calm down Alice."

"I'm pretty sure they wouldn't do anything with Naruto here." Emmett said in reassurance, wrapping his arm around Naruto proudly while the latter just shrugged and smiled.

"Is there something wrong Naruto?" Carlisle inquired, noticing the blonde not in his usually exuberant demeanor.

"Yeah, your awfully quiet today Naruto. Is there a problem?" Esme supplemented in a worried maternal tone.

"Nah….nothing I couldn't handle." Naruto said boisterously as if all his energy had been recharged by the question. Though, in truth it was just a façade to avert soliciting unnecessary anxiety from the rest of his family. "It's just I'm a little bit worried about one thing ya'know." He then continued musingly.

"What is it?" Jasper inquired curiously.

"You remember those two vampires that time we encountered Sasuke?" Naruto said in a tone that was more of a statement than a question.

"Yeah?" Jasper said, looking at the shinobi with a slightly confused expression on his face.

"They work for that wretched Alex and they're now an order of magnitude more powerful than the last time we encountered them." Naruto hissed though he maintained an unruffled composure.

"But how did they become that powerful?" Carlisle inquired, puzzled and concerned. It was almost jaw dropping how formidable Lestat and Armand are. The last time he saw them they were able to dispose of the nomadic vampires with very little to no difficulty and with murderous efficiency, but to think that their already frightening powers has even more increased is just mind boggling to him.

"I'm not sure either but I reckon that Alex is letting them feed-off him." Naruto hypothesized in a hollow pondering voice. "That might also explain why he looks like crap this past few days. I guess that sharing his power through bloodletting temporarily weakens him."

"But why would he do that? Why would your boyfriend share his power to his servants when he can keep it all to himself?" Emmett inquired curiously and at the same time jested to try and lighten the air from the severity of the topic.

"We already talked about this ya'know! He's not my…..Ah forget it!" Naruto comically exclaimed out of exasperation and reproof that made everyone crack a smile except Jasper who seemed to be deep in his thoughts.

"He's girding his forces for war." Jasper said mirthlessly with a low monotonous intonation of an old soldier who thinks aloud.

"That's my take on it too." Naruto supplemented in a solemn voice. "I guess he's still butt hurt about me torching his buddy and Eddie prancing away with Bella." He then continued, trying a jest but was greeted with silence as it would seem that everyone's face was austere and forbidding from the earlier statement.

"We must take him down while he's still vulnerable…before he could regenerate his strength." Jasper proposed a somewhat cold blooded but sound plan to safeguard them from the threat, before the predicament gets way out of hand.

Hearing Jasper's strategy everyone in the room was silent while a steely expression became the ubiquitous countenance in their faces.

"It wouldn't be that simple though. Don't ever think that just because he's peaceful today he already forgotten how to be violent." Naruto broke the cold silence. "Pretty boy is a demigod. He possesses the overwhelming power to fold time and the space around him. This grants him many abilities like teleporting wherever the hell he wishes or move at speeds far beyond the quickest vampire by controlling the flow of time around him; furthermore, he can also partially phase himself in to other realities or dimensions that for all intents and purposes blinks him out of existence and renders him all but imperceptible to our senses. Getting intel is quite difficult as well since he can instinctively sense whenever he's being observed and use his powers to hide like the coward that he is or if he's feeling particularly nasty, jams the psychic abilities of others such as what he did to Alice that time in the cafeteria by painfully invading her mind and unleashing sanity bending spells that filled her head with hellish visions. I reckon that it will only be a matter of time before he learns how to telekinetically warp reality. Worst still. In the 'lucky' instance that we did tag him and kill him, he can give us a final FU-to-you-all, as all his hatred and ill-will towards us will be unleashed at the moment of his death as a massive psionic backlash that will tear apart the brains of every living being within miles."

"Darn Naruto what you do to your BF to be hatin you like this." Seeing the tensions rise again, Emmett decided to lighten up the discussion by teasing Naruto a little.

"Damn it Emmett! Shut up!" Naruto exclaimed hysterically though the others didn't find comfort in humor as they seemed to be too absorbed and worried from what they've just heard.

"Great! Like it isn't bad enough that the Volturi are on their way…now there's an angry demigod who want our heads on a pike. Anything else?" Rosalie grumbled for a while though she turned silent as she saw Alice abruptly froze with a vacant stare while the expression on Naruto's face turned hard and deathly as if both of them felt a looming danger closing in on their position with torrential rapidity.

"They're here." Alice muttered, announcing the arrival of the Volturi.

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To say that Caius isn't having a good day was an understatement. If it isn't enough that the Volturi has lost face years ago when Naruto wiped the floor with their elite guards now the Cullen's continue to mock them with all these delays. Though it baffled him how Aro managed to remain so calm despite all of this, and indeed a rather unscrupulous grin was carved on the latter's face as they traversed along with Marcus, Sulpicia, his wife Athenodora , and a handful of their most powerful elite guards lead by Jane, Alec and Felix who acted as their lieutenants.

It was a sinister reddish-orange summer twilight, made premature by the imminence of a sudden rainstorm that had filled the forest of Forks. The trees along the road were already blurred to ebon masses, and the road itself, pale and spectral before them in the thickening gloom, seemed to waver and quiver slightly, as with the tremor of some mysterious earthquake.

Finally, with swift vampiric strides they were able to reach a large, graceful house that was rectangular and well-proportioned, and painted a faded white. Outside was Carlisle and his coven cordially waiting for them along with Naruto, whose azure glare stirred the dead embers of fear within him.

Aro was the first one to speak after an interim of awkward silence between the covens. "Carlisle. It has been a while." He greeted ever so politely in a jovial and ingratiating manner.

"Aro. I hope you had a pleasant journey." Carlisle greeted back in a gentle voice and a friendly smile.

"Indeed it was a long trip…we had to make few stops for some snacks and refreshments on our way here." Aro responded in the same manner, though the last part of his sentence has made some of the Cullen's more vigilant of their presence judging from the hardened expressions on their faces.

"What do you want?" Naruto interjected, unheeding of any formalities that made Caius glare at him though the latter was well aware of his abilities and as such wasn't able to do anything but mumble maledictions at the back of his head.

"Aah Signor Naruto." Aro said in an oily voice as he turned his head to the blonde while his fingers were gently clasped together.

"Dispense the formalities Aro. Tell me why are you guys here." Naruto inquired in a deathly serious tone while giving the lead vampire a sharp glare.

At that moment Aro dropped the jovial façade and became more serious as he turned his attention back to Carlisle. "Well, as you know, our kind has its laws. Quite lately one of you has been walking on a very thin line; and though we have been magnanimously lenient with you all this time we can't help but feel increasingly concerned with regards to Isabella."

"We caught word that she is still human." Marcus interjected in a dispassionate but singularly penetrating whisper like voice.

"Is this true? Take heed Carlisle lest you exceed the bounds of our leniency." In a stern and mirthless voice Caius issued a threat though Carlisle knew that the former had no intention of enforcing it as long as Naruto is around.

Hearing this, a hard and forbidding expression ubiquitously assumed on the faces of the Cullen's while the Volturi guards glared as if preparing themselves for battle. However, before the tensions could rise any further Carlisle stepped forward.

"Yes, it is true that Bella is still human. However she will be turned in to one of us shortly, after her graduation." Carlisle explained in a gentle voice.

"Unacceptable!" Caius roared but turned taciturn as he saw Aro looking at him while extending his index finger to his lips bidding him to be silent.

"You know we need more assurance than that Carlisle." Aro said in a calm and amicable voice that projected a veiled warning.

"Perhaps I can provide you with just that." Alice said as she walked towards Aro and extended her hand, wanting to share a vision she had with him.

Aro gladly took her palm while he ran through his head the infinite possibilities which will open up to him if Alice is but to join the Volturi. Suddenly, his musings ceased as the vision of Alice flashed in to his head. He saw Bella fully transformed in to a vampire and happily frolicking through the forest with Edward.

"Magnifico." Aro muttered with an absorbed grin on his face, deeply curious of how Bella's gift will turnout once she has been transformed in to an immortal.

"I hope this proof will suffice that there is nothing to be concerned about." Carlisle spoke in a gentle voice and with a reassuring smile which Aro responded with a slight nod.

"Indeed." He then said to Carlisle jovially before turning to his coven and bidding them to leave. Though before duplicitously extending a mental command to Adria to go with Lucius.

Adria, the latest vampire to join the Volturi has the psychic gift to link her mind with anyone; this enables the person she's connected to instantaneously receive information as the latter can experience everything she sees, hears and feels as long as the telepathic link is maintained. The said gift, combined with Lucius's stealth was cleverly utilized by Aro for espionage; acting as both figurative and literal invisible eyes and ears that covertly observes suspicious individuals and activities without him leaving the comfort of Voltera.

"Well, goodbye for now Carlisle." Aro said with a smile on his face, seemingly contented for the moment.

"Leaving so soon?" Carlisle responded in a mellow flowing voice. The inquiry was meant to be a polite gesture though he was quite relieved that the Volturi was satisfied with whatever they came here for and are now leaving. The encounter with the dominant coven went far better than expected, though like Naruto he can't help but get a bit of an off feeling on how things went too well.

"We do have far more pressing matters to get acquainted with." Aro said smiling, bidding farewell once again before he and the rest of the Volturi departed with inhuman speeds and quickly disappeared in to the dappled shadows of the dark forest.

"Well that's one problem solved, one to go." Naruto said exuberantly in jest that made the now much relieved Cullen's to smile a little.

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(Forks High School)

Days have passed, Bella and Edward returned to Forks much eased up knowing that the Volturi wouldn't bother them for the time being. Though still weary from the flight the other night Bella decided to go to school, hitching a ride with Edward.

"Do you regret going?" Edward asked as he parked the car, noticing Bella's pensive demeanor.

"No" Bella responded as she turned her head towards Edward. "It was really great seeing my mom….It was just hard saying goodbye.

"I doesn't have to be goodbye." Edward said in a velvety voice. He doesn't want Bella to be turned in to a vampire though he don't really have a choice in the matter especially because the Volturi is keeping a close eye on them. Then out of sudden, a hard expression assumed on his face as if he sensed the encroaching of an abominable beast.

"What?" Bella inquired with a puzzled countenance on her face noticing Edward's sudden mood swing.

"If I ask you to stay in the car, will you?" Edward didn't answer the question directly. Instead the reply he vouchsafed was vague and cryptic before subsequently stepping out of the car in a manner as if he was about to confront someone.

Worried that something bad might happen Bella followed his boyfriend and got off the car as well. To her surprise and bewilderment however, she saw that Jake was waiting patiently in front of his motorcycle, just a few steps from where they were parked.

"Of course not." Edward muttered sarcastically to himself as he saw Bella heading straight towards Jake.

"Hey" Bella greeted Jake while Edward silently followed behind her, obviously in strong disagreement.

"Charlie say you left town." Jake said in an inquisitive tone.

"Yeah…to visit my mom. Why?" Bella replied awkwardly, confused as the inquiry along with the way Jake looked at her was uncanny, it's like he's analyzing her for something.

"He's checking if you're still human." Edward said behind her in a sardonic tone and with an equally satirical grin that earned him Jake's glare. "I wouldn't listen to your new friend too much if I were you. You don't know how dangerous he is." He then continued in a much more stern tone as he glared back at him.

"Funny, he said the same thing about you." Jake sniffed as he continued to eye Edward quite darkly while the latter did the same. "And judging from the mess you dragged Bella in to I say he's right."

"Just leave. Now." Edward hissed in a low but deathly serious voice.

"Make me." Jake smirked as if challenging Edward to remove him if he can or just shut up if he's not able to.

"You two stop it!" Bella reproached in a stern voice before the situation escalates in to a bloody brawl between the two. "Jake we'll talk later…..Edward let's go." She then continued, literally trying to pull Edward by the arm as the vampire glared sharply at the Quileute, seemingly with a barely controllable urge to kill him.

Jake on the other hand was also giving Edward an unkind and dirty look but was a bit assuaged to know that Bella is still human and he was somewhat glad to see her again after some time.

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(Port Angeles)

It was an awkward meeting between Leah and Naruto for the former didn't know how to begin telling the blonde of her possible condition while the latter have no idea how to properly initiate a conversation with her out of fear that she'll flip out on him with nigh bestial fury at the slightest of unintended provocation.

"Uhhm lets order…" Naruto and Leah concurrently spoke then awkwardly paused as they heard each other and realized that they were talking in unison.

"Sure" The two then once again spoke simultaneously then chuckled from the strange hilarity of it all.

"Ladies first." Naruto said to Leah with a dazzling smile like that of a proper gentleman.

"Well thank you, kind sir." Leah said in a plummy heightened received pronunciation as if she was a Victorian era lady, teasing Naruto a little. "I'll have the miso ramen with a slice of pork please." She then continued, ordering in the same posh manner.

" _Yup, that's wifey material down there."_ Naruto found Leah's humor hilarious and can't help himself but chuckle sonorously that a snorting sound sprang involuntarily as he laughed. "Okay, I'll have the same but with two extra slices of pork." He then continued after calming down a bit from his belly laugh.

"Is this some sort of contest?" Leah joked, noting the extra slices of pork the blonde has ordered.

"No?" Naruto smirked playfully. "I just feel eating extra today." He then continued with a wide grin.

"Would that be all?" The chef inquired.

"Yup." Naruto said keenly. "Oh…wait, I'll have some gyoza with that too. Also, it wouldn't hurt if you can add some extra menma on my ramen, and onsen tamago, and bean sprout, and every other juicy stuff I forgot to mention." He then continued in an excited voice which the chef gladly nodded as he subsequently assembled their order.

"Try not to eat too much." Leah chuckled.

"Why? You worried I'll become morbidly obese." Naruto jested back.

"Well…that is always a possibility." Leah said in a voice interlaced with deadpan sarcasm though she couldn't help herself but chuckle lightheartedly afterwards.

"Ah I wouldn't worry about that." Naruto said, brushing Leah's apprehension by goofing around in an air of manly bravado. "See, rock hard." He then continued in the same manner, lifting his shirt and exposing a six pack abs that while perfectly sculpted and aesthetically pleasing too look at has left Leah with a not so amused expression on her face.

"Put your shirt down, people are staring." Leah admonished in a hissing whisper.

"Oh sorry." Naruto chuckled self-consciously. "Sorry about that folks." He then turned to the other diners and apologized awkwardly in a rather sheepish voice, though he forgot to lower his shirt and his rippling abs were still left exposed.

It was a treat for the ladies who can't help themselves but blush red like a tomato and wished that Naruto was their date, though, needless to say it was an anathema for their male companions whose egos and self-confidence took a major blow while their hidden insecurities manifested as a silent sulking as they saw their dates absentmindedly stared at the blonde with dreamy and mesmerized eyes, completely enamored by everything that is him.

"Ughmm…..Naruto" Leah said in a voice that reflected her brewing exasperation.

"Oh…sorry about that Leah, I kinda forgot my belly is still showing." Naruto said cumbersomely and with a sheepish smile as he felt Leah's rage accumulating.

"The shirt….pull it back down." Leah said in an impassively calm voice that made chills ran through Naruto's spine.

"Ok….you're the boss." Naruto said, chuckling awkwardly. "Except when you're not….and I mean later." He then continued in a somewhat naughty whisper, cracking a joke in hopes that Leah will find it funny; funny enough that she would grant him access to her garden of wonders later on. It's a venture that is wholly contingent on her mood; though his chances seemed to be quite slim for a good mood is a commodity that has suddenly became quite scarce these past few days.

"About that." Leah mumbled, sensing Naruto's intention and remembering her current situation. "Naruto….I have something to tell you." She then sighed.

"What?" Naruto inquired, tilting his head slightly out of befuddlement. "Wait….don't tell me there's another." He then broodingly speculated in a hilarious, overly-hyped manner which is slowly being intertwined with a jealous suspicion that has annoyed Leah acutely.

" _Of course not!"_ Leah thought in outrage as a cruciform popping vein formed on her forehead. Nonetheless she tried to be as calm as possible and took a deep breath. "Naruto….." Swallowing her pride and barely able to control her anger she then spoke in a tranquil voice but was cutoff.

"Right. Who's the guy…tell me who the bastard is so that I could Houdini him in the solar plexus!" Naruto interjected hysterically in a state of comedic rage but out of sudden he became strangely tranquil as if a thought made its way to the crevices of his brain that caused all the sidestepping intensity to seemingly die out. "Wait….is he actually a she? Because ya'know, I'm always open to new things though it is such a burden to keep an open mind. Maybe we could…uhm have special arrangements with her…the three of us, perhaps." He then said and at the same time suggested in a randy tone; day dreaming unwholesome dreams while his tongue was comically wagged like that of a dog and a lecherous monkey smile assumed widely on his blushing face.

It was quite physically obvious how the annoyance rose in to Leah's face. Her temper was all up and hot. She opened her mouth to try and protest but no words were able to come out due to being constantly cutoff by Naruto's interjections. Not able to bear the indignation any longer she stood up from where she sat. "You're an idiot!" She exclaimed furiously, subsequently proceeding to falcon punch the blonde at the top of his head with bone busting fury before she stormed out of the ramen bar while growlingly muttered how dense the latter was.

"What did I do?" Naruto confusedly muttered as he recovered from the vertigo of Leah's blow.

"Beats me kid." Kurama said casually inside his head.

"I wasn't talking to you." Naruto retorted.

"Then who are you talking to?" The fox queried rhetorically.

"I was talking to the universe." Naruto said in an awkward voice as he hastily assembled a comeback.

"Did the 'universe' talk back?" Kurama once again inquired rhetorically, this time his voice was oozing with sarcasm.

"No." Naruto pouted immaturely.

"Yeah, that's because you're an idiot."Kurama retorted that made the blonde scowl at him. In truth the fox knew what's going on since he has sensed the chakra slowly forming on Leah's belly though he opted not to tell Naruto, thinking it would be more prudent, not to mention entertaining, if the shinobi found out on his own.

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(Forks Highs School – Graduation Day)

The senior-high students of Forks rejoiced in exaltation that is like no other for today is the day they not only cross the threshold of parental freedom but also take the first step in shaping their lives with their own hands.

The Cullen's on the other hand didn't share much of the enthusiasm, partly because to them it is just another loop that they would have to repeat all over again and thus they weren't as keen as their schoolmates even though they've decided to throw a graduation party where everyone was invited, save for one person.

Bella, Mike, Angela, Eric, Tyler and the other students were all excited as Jessica climbed up the stage and into the podium with her graduation speech in hand.

"When we were five, they asked us what we wanted to be when we grew up. Our answers were things like astronaut, president, or in my case…princess." Jessica started casually that elicited some amused snickers from the audience.

"When we were ten, they asked again and we answered – rock star, cowboy, or in my case, gold medalist. But now that we've grown up, they want a serious answer. Well, how 'bout this; who the hell knows?" To this the crowd cheered as students, teachers and parents alike could completely relate to it.

"This isn't the time to make hard and fast decisions, it's the time to make mistakes. Take the wrong train and get stuck somewhere chill. Fall in love – a lot. Major in philosophy 'cause there's no way to make a career out of that. Change your mind. Then change it again, because nothing is permanent. So make as many mistakes as you can. That way, someday, when they ask again what we want to be… we won't have to guess. We'll know." She then finished with a simple yet singularly penetrating eloquence that sent the crowd cheering throughout and well after her speech.

The rest of the ceremony went exceedingly well. Charlie couldn't be more proud as a father, seeing Bella with her diploma. And though his mood soured a bit when Edward suddenly appeared out of the blue and placed his arm around his daughter's shoulder he didn't scowl nor directed a nasty glare towards him, opting to cut them some slack.

At the same time Charlie also noticed Alex trying to approach his daughter, perhaps to congratulate her, but the latter suddenly bailed out when Edward made his abrupt entry and glared at the young man with an unblinking stare. _"Well that's weird."_ He then thought, though the said thought only lingered fleetingly inside his head for he was distracted with much fatherly joy.

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(Cullen's House – Later that Day)

Given her clairvoyant gift and natural affinity for aesthetics, coupled with her other impressive skills it isn't a surprise that Alice can throw an awesome party that gave everyone a great time; especially Mike and Naruto who were having a dance floor showdown, shaking their trunks like there's no tomorrow.

"Who knew they'll get along very well?" Edward said smilingly to Bella.

"Yeah…it's weird." Bella said with a vague smile, not sure how to react as she saw Naruto do the chicken wing while Mike countered with the good ol' booty slap followed by the shirtless helicopter that sent the spectators and the shinobi himself to lively cheer from the rather silly but bold dance move.

"Nice!" Emmett exclaimed followed by a roaring belly laugh while Rosalie can't help herself but giggle, finding the two's antics amusing.

Out of sudden Edward held Bella's hand gently then reared his face toward her ear. "Let's move to somewhere quieter, I have something for you." He then said.

"Sure?" Bella replied in an awkward tone. Agreeing though somewhat hesitantly as she doesn't really know what to expect.

The couple then went out of the house and in to the forest's direction. When Edward was sure that there's no longer anyone around she placed Bella on a piggy back and sprinted with vampiric speeds.

"Where are we going?" Bella inquired curiously.

"You'll see." Edward said casually with a crooked grin on his face.

Finally, they reached their destination. It was on the grass perfumed meadow where they always meet. A picnic blanket was laid in to a perfectly romantic spot were the light of the moon and stars shone unhindered by the dark canopies of the nearby trees.

"What are we doing here?" Bella inquired with a vague smile on her face.

"It seems to be the perfect spot." Edward replied in the same vague, if not vaguer manner.

"Perfect spot for what?" Bella once again inquired, more puzzled than ever.

"I'll show you but first you must close your eyes." Edward smiled.

Bella complied with her boyfriend's strange request and closed her eyes. She felt Edward guiding her to some predetermined location from which he then gently laid her on the picnic blanket. After which Edward removed the blindfold and Bella was stunned in awe and wonder as she beheld the ocean of countless stars that riddled the night sky; gleaming and twinkling just for her making her feel like she's the center of the universe.

Bella then felt Edward's hand hold hers then as she looked to her shoulder she saw Edward lying beside her and looking at her with those ardent amber eyes that was charming and mesmerizing beyond measure. She then noticed him reached something in his pocket; it was a small velvet box.

"I'm from a different era, things were a lot less…complicated. And if I met you back then, I would have courted you. We'd have taken chaperone strolls, and ice tea on the porch.." Edward said a fervent and sweet voice that made Bella smile out of genuine happiness. "I may have stolen a kiss or two, but only after asking your father's permission. I would've got down on one knee..." At this time Edward stood up then kneeled on one knee.

Bella was lost for words but she felt a happiness that was indescribable by mere words and the smile on her face broadened and became keener.

"….and I would have presented you with a ring." Edward continued as he opened the box, revealing a beautiful ring affixed with an oval bezel studded with diamonds that shined like the cluster of glimmering stars above them as moonlight touched the iridescent gems with its gentle rays. "This was my mother's." He said. Gathering all his courage he then asked the question. "Isabella Swan, I promise to love you every moment of forever. Would you do me the extraordinary honor of marrying me?"

Bella paused for a long second, seemingly unable to process what she just heard. She then looked to Edward and smiled softly. "Yes" She answered, making Edward the happiest man in the world at that particular moment.

The two then hugged each other ardently and shared a sweet kiss of pure love as the light of the moon and the stars shone upon them as if the very universe was eagerly watching in delight every second of that perfect moment.

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(Bella's House)

That night Bella went to her room with an unfading smile on her face as she unremittingly reminisce Edward's proposal. Suddenly, her euphoric musings ceased abruptly as an ominous chill ran through her spine as she felt that she was no longer alone, as if someone's watching her from the shadows. It made her feel like a helpless prey being stalked upon by a hungry wolf in the dark, just bidding for the right moment to brutally strike her down with a maw full of unforgiving razor sharp teeth. Soon her heart paced faster and an eerie and cold sweat broke through her skin as the foreboding sensation became more intense knowing that the unseen stalker was impending ever so closer.

"Bella" Greeted a pleasantly melodic voice that startled Bella, making her instinctively turn around to the voice's origin and saw that it was Alex. The young man was standing next to her, beaming a gentle smile which was rather sheepish but was ever so friendly.

"Alex? What are you doing here?" Bella demanded in a somewhat apprehensive tone while secretly reaching for her phone at her pocket to try and alert Charlie or the Cullen's of the unwelcomed visitor.

"Please…there is no need for that. I give you my word, I will never hurt you…I can never hurt you." Alex pleaded as if he had read her mind. Fidgeting, he assured Bella that he only wanted to talk to her.

"What do you want?" Bella queried suspiciously, not letting her guard down despite the numerous reassurances of the young man.

"Well, you see, we haven't really talked much lately so….uhmm…I just want to be the first one to give you my best wishes." Alex said in a jovial albeit awkward tone along with a gentle smile, though a recognizable sadness was intertwined with his words as he spoke.

"How did you know…?" Bella once again queried with a furrowed brow, speculating on how Alex found out about her being engaged and soon to be married to Edward for they have not yet told anyone about it. Her distrust towards the latter seems to only deepen some more as she came to the realization that he was spying on them and furtively watching her every move. She found the total desecration of her privacy infuriating to say the least, and frankly quite creepy.

"It's kinda long story Bella." Alex said in a mellow voice while he meekly scratched his head, seemingly embarrassed on how he obtained that piece of knowledge. "Though rest be assured that I haven't told anyone about it. I want you to know that no matter what happens I will always be at your side if you need me. I hope we can still be friends." He then continued knowing that he already lost the battle to the better man, to Edward, though he was hoping that he and Bella will at least still be good friends at the end of it all, a far better alternative than losing her altogether.

"Alex…" Bella sighed. "You know we cannot be friends anymore. Please, just leave me alone and don't ever bother us again." In a solemn and stern voice Bella then said the harsh words that the young man was dreading to hear.

To this Alex fell silent and an unmistakable expression of sadness and pain emanated from the countenance of his face as he downheartedly nodded his head slightly. His electric blue eyes went dark like a pair of dull unpolished sapphires as they were filled with glumness and anguish.

Bella could see that the young man was clearly heartbroken but she remained impassive and indifferent, and didn't offer any kind words or gestures to mitigate the former's melancholy, thinking that it was some kind of ruse intending to weasel himself back to her life.

"I understand….I….I'm sorry for being such a…nuisance to you all this time." Alex then muttered stutteringly in a soft and somber voice after a while of being taciturn, trying to smile with gallant but piteous courage. "I will never be a bother to you again. I promise….Good bye Bella. I wish you happiness, always."

A that moment Bella heard three consecutive knocks on the door that reverberated through every corner of her room. "Bella, everything alright there?" Charlie said on the other side with an inquisitively worried voice.

"Yeah. Just talking to someone on the phone dad." Bella lied, though the premise sounded believable enough for credence. She then turned her head back to Alex to demand the latter to leave at once but to her surprise she saw that he was no longer in sight, as if he just dissolved in to nothingness.

"Okay." Charlie responded in concurrence, thinking that Bella was just having a disagreement with Edward on the phone; though he was hoping that the two would break up eventually as he sees his daughter's infatuation with the latter to be a bit unhealthy and obsessive.

Meanwhile, Bella can't help herself but remain apprehensive; thinking that Alex will retaliate from being rejected in such an undignified manner. She braced herself like a person inside the eye of a storm, waiting for the battering of the ferocious tempest which violently swirls within the edges of the chaotic vortex. But none came. Everything remained still and undisturbed, with only the sounds of sonorously chirping crickets and the sweet singing of night birds permeated the peaceful evening that was coldly illuminated by the pale light of the crescent moon.

 **-End**

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 **Hey there folks!**

 **Sorry it took too long for me to update since I was on a long business trip this past month. Anyways, I hope you awesome people enjoyed reading. So in this chapter I tried to assemble a story continuity that is well-balanced with suspense, comical moments and a bit of romance. Hopefully all have blended well and produced an effect on you guys.**

 **I'm not a native English speaker ( I learned most of my English from watching Downton Abbey lol) and I don't have a beta-reader yet. My cousin used to be my beta-reader but he too was preoccupied with his own job lately. So if you guys noticed some grammar irregularities or wrong spellings I would greatly appreciate it if you can point them out to me so that I could exonerate them. Also, I would like to thank all you awesome people for the great inputs.**

 **Oh and one more thing….some of you guys may have noticed and have wondered about the slight difference in the story's continuity as compared to the book or movie version of it. This is because the events that took place on Chapter 12 and 13 has altered the timeline a bit and thus caused a few deviations from the canon. Anyways, if you guys have more questions or perhaps suggestions feel free to post them on the review section so that I could easily see them.**

 **Cheerio :)**


	20. Chapter 20: Darkness and Light

Seeing the rather unscrupulous smile on Aro's face, Caius can't help himself but scowl a bit more than usual as he contemplated the reason behind the latter's devious happiness in spite of what happened from their encounter with the Cullens. It wasn't a disaster per se though he could barely call it an acceptable outcome either.

Out of all the covens under their domain he always disliked the Cullens. He has never forgotten how Naruto humiliated the Volturi years ago, furthermore the way the Cullens looked at him coldly earlier, seeming to judge or mock him has stirred the flames of intense hatred that if it weren't for the shinobi's presence and Aro's interference he would have executed them all were they stood.

"Caius, you seem a bit preoccupied." Aro inquired in a jovial and seemingly carefree manner. "Do you wish to share with us what's bothering you?

"Well now that you mentioned it." Caius started "I think you're too lenient with the Cullens." He then continued, expecting a frown from Aro but to his surprise when the latter laughed maniacally from the statement.

"Found something amusing?" Caius inquired, his brow furrowed as he put on a face of deep and serious contemplation.

"Tell me something brother. Do you know the reason why the Cullens are virtually untouchable? " Aro asked in a voice subtly interlaced with veiled contempt.

"Because of their blonde guard dog, Naruto." Caius replied with utter disdain.

"That's right. He is too powerful for us to confront as evident by what happened years ago." Aro said as he reminisced how Naruto wiped the floor with their elite guards. "However, that may not be the case any longer. All we need is a powerful ally of our own to tip the scales back in to our favor." He then said with a scheming grin.

"What do you have in mind?" Marcus said, deciding to interject.

"Do you remember Lucius's report a few weeks ago?" Aro said in an inquisitive and at the same time introspective tone.

"Yes. Are you planning to make an alliance with those vampires he was talking about? Do you think they're strong enough to take Naruto down?" Caius inquired, confused.

"Maybe not the vampires but the one they serve seemed powerful enough to take on Naruto on an equal footing." Aro explained astutely.

Caius eyes suddenly widened as he realized what Aro was planning all along. "We need to forge an alliance with them as soon as possible." He then continued keenly.

"I already took care of that. Even as we speak our most loyal elite guards are searching for our new would be allies so that we could form a mutually beneficial partnership with them that will ensure our supremacy over the Cullens and anyone who dare defy us." Aro said deviously that made both he and Caius smile with an evil and sinister grin.

"I must say brother, you've certainly outdone yourself this time." Caius said as he smilingly praised Aro's craftiness.

"Why thank you." Aro replied in an oily and ingratiating voice. "Though that little discussion of ours has left me feeling suddenly famished, shall we eat?" Aro then suggested as he turned his gaze on to the frightened teenagers their elite guards have abducted from a rave the night before to serve as their sustenance.

"Certainly" Caius replied while the crooked grin on his face widened ominously as he scanned their captives and selected his next meal.

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(Storm Residence – A few Days Later)

Threading stealthily, Jane, Alec, Demetri, Lucius and Felix arrived at the edge of Forks where stood a luxurious mansion wrought of chalk-white marble. The colossal edifice was as large as a medieval fortress and it towered lordly over the trees in the vicinity. On its huge façade stood a portico of Roman-Corinthian columns wrought of the same chalk-white marble and a great gilded ironwood door that was superbly etched with rococo designs.

"Is this is it?" Alec queried as he gazed at the opulent residence.

"Yes." Demetri replied. Using his gift he was able to track down Lestat and Armand's location through their past interaction with Lucius.

"This is a bad idea." Lucius murmured inaudibly with a trembling voice. Worried that Lestat and Armand will descend upon them the moment they least expect.

"Then what are we waiting for? We have orders from Aro, do we not?" Jane said coldly with an impassive countenance on her face.

Having full confidence on her gift and how she can easily subdue any adversary, along with the fact of being feared for so long by all that she encountered has bred hubris and haughtiness within her that borderlined grandiosity. In her hautier she dismissed Lucius's account of Lestat and Armand along with their demigod master to be nothing more than a preposterous tale that should be laughed at best and ignored at worst. Furthermore, the way the former's lips quivered from fear as he recounted his supposed encounter with the latter two vampires disgusted her for it was unbecoming of a Volturi guard to be afraid of such a silly nonsense. But nonetheless, out of loyalty, she obediently obeyed Aro's wishes for a further investigation on the matter.

"We must be very careful….." Lucius tried to warn but held his tongue as he saw Jane's frightening eyes peered towards him.

"He's right this might be….." Demetri supplemented but was cutoff.

"A trap?" A voice of a youth said in a playful manner that startled the Volturi, making them turn around to the voice's origins and beheld Armand behind them with a grin carved on his face.

"Who are you?" Jane inquired mirthlessly while Lucius was frozen in fear and couldn't utter a word.

"Don't you worry your pretty little head my chéri this isn't a trap." At that point Lestat decided to reveal himself to the group, manifesting like a thought that has been given form. "My name is Lestat and this is Armand." He then continued, introducing himself and his peer to the strangers.

"Wait, I know you." Armand said in a tranquil but penetrating voice, tilting his head a little to peer and point out the terrified Lucius.

A feeling of unexplainable trepidation slowly but surely crept in Jane's un-beating heart as she came to the realization that Lucius wasn't exaggerating at all when he said that these vampires are formidable beyond belief for she herself could sense their power from where she stood. Nonetheless, she cannot lose face in front of her fellow guards nor can she show any weakness to Lestat and Armand; no matter how powerful they are she must present herself with an unfailing air of authority and project an image of power and fear.

"I am Jane of the Volturi." She first introduced herself then her companions. "This is Alec, Demetri, Felix and I believe you already meet Lucius."

"Yes, we are already well acquainted with Lucius but the real question is, what brings you here…..Jane." Lestat said in a coquettish tone that has etched an uncanny feeling of trepidation on Jane and the other Volturi guards.

"We are here to deliver a message to your master." Jane said astutely, not letting her fear cloud the façade she's trying to project.

"He's in the pool, west wing of the mansion." Lestat replied casually that greatly surprised Armand and the Volturi guards, leaving them bewildered if not suspicious.

" _Lestat what are you doing."_ Armand telepathically inquired while his lips were pressed together in a hard line.

" _Trust me. This will be interesting."_ Lestat replied with a rather mischievous grin on his face.

" _I have a bad feeling about this."_ Armand furrowed his brow and put on a face of deep and serious contemplation. Though he eventually consented in the end for he himself was curious of Lestat's plan and its outcome.

"You are letting us in just like that?" Felix inquired suspiciously.

"Yes" Lestat answered casually, seemingly not worried at all. "You're probably wondering and a little suspicious of how things are too easily working out. Don't worry as I've said earlier this isn't a trap. However, our master isn't expecting any guest and as such I suggest you put on your best manners." He then continued in a much foreboding tone.

"The last vampire who came uninvited and misbehaved had his flesh torn from his bones and his skin turned in to a book cover." Armand warned the Volturi in the same foreboding tone. This was a lie of course and he was secretly chuckling inside as he saw how the other group of vampires gulped in fear from what they've just heard. His secret merriment subsided however as he looked to his shoulder and saw Lestat looking at him with a raised brow. _"What? Too much?"_ He then telepathically inquired.

" _Overkill"_ Lestat telepathically responded with a deadpan expression on his face. He was initially planning to scare the Volturi a little but Armand overly hyped their fears with his disturbingly macabre embellishments.

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"This is as far as we go." Lestat said as he and Armand escorted Jane and her company in to a great door of stained glass, the other side of which is the indoor pool where their master is.

Secretly each Volturi guard feared for his life as they approached closer and then passed through the threshold of the portal. A strange shiver gripped and shook their nerves as they could only imagine what kind of horrible monster the latter two vampires serve, what unspeakable beast from the bowels of seven hells is waiting for them, and most of all what gruesome faith awaits them.

They were expecting dried blood on the walls along with pieces of flesh and fractured bones that were the remnants of the unfortunate humans devoured by Lestat and Armands half-god overlord. Curiously, they found none. What they saw was an opulent room illuminated by a combination of crystal chandeliers and the light from the sun of which rays smote through the transparent canopy above and from the several large glass windows on the wall. At the center of the room stood a series of lapis columns contra-parallel to each other and on their midst was a large rectangular pool that glimmered as the beams of the sun touched its waters.

From the pool emerged a youth that was seemingly surprised to see them. He was both tall and devastatingly handsome. His eyes of deepest azure along with the totality of his aesthetically intoxicating features where not of any ordinary mortal but more akin to the attributes of the gods and godesses of pagan lore, and betokened intellect as well as a love for good living.

"Who are you?" Alex asked, both flummoxed and seemingly confused but nonetheless he was very polite.

"He's Just a kid." Felix was the first to break the silence among the dumbfounded Volturi guards.

"Is that him? He looks like as if his balls haven't dropped yet." Demetri supplemented that made Alex glower at him.

Usually, Jane is very collected and never distracted by the way someone looks but being confronted by the nigh-physical perfection of the demigod has left her gawking and couldn't utter a thing as if she just forgotten all the words she learned from her centuries of existence. A certain je ne sais quoi irresistibly drew her gaze to Alex with an overpowering sense of romantic attraction, which somehow seemed so natural, so inevitable, that she did not pause to analyze or wonder; and once having seen him, she could not seem to take her eyes away.

"Jane, is everything alright?" Alec inquired, puzzled.

"Ugh, uhm, abs….absolutely." Jane responded to the inquiry after a long second of awkward silence. _"This is strange….am I actually getting aroused by him…oh god, why don't he put some shirt on, this is so distracting."_ She then thought, blushing like a little girl inside.

"What do you want?" Alex once again inquired in a tranquil but stern voice as he casually toweled his hair. _"How did these guys got in here? Ugh…It's either Lestat or Armand is sleeping on the job or they let them in on purpose. If the latter is true then I wonder why they did it."_ He then thought contemplatively, forming his own hypothesis on the matter.

"My name is Jane. Come with us. You and Aro have important things to discuss." Jane said impassively in a mellow flowing but authoritative voice, though what's going on inside her head was quite different from the cold and unmoving countenance of her face. _"Okay…he's gorgeous, now that we have established that get a hold of yourself Jane; you have a job to do."_

" _She's no Bella but she's certainly pretty I must admit…wait, that emotion I sense within her that's lust. Ah, now I get it. She and Lestat must have had a 'history'. That's maybe the reason he let her in…..poor girl, she fell in love with that manslut. The coward doesn't even have half the decency to show his face."_ Alex thought broodingly, though like Jane, his inner thoughts rarely correspond to the way he presents himself. "I'm afraid I have to respectfully decline your invitation…..or better yet, tell your Aro that I'm not interested." Alex said with a sere expression on his face and in a cold voice that was bleak as the night of a silent winter.

"You insolent…!" Appalled, Alec roared and was about to attack when her twin sister bade her stay.

" _Okay, you asked for this."_ Jane thought though she maintained the illusion of cold impassiveness in her face. "Pain" She then muttered as she induced a crippling pain upon Alex, but to her surprise when she saw the young man seemingly unaffected by her gift at all.

" _Oooh that hurt, yet it feels so good….wait what's happening? Seriously? Am I getting…actually…turned on by this? This is so weird."_ Alex thought awkwardly, though like Jane he maintained a façade of cold indifference. Subsequently, with a slight exertion of mental strength his sinister powers flung its darkness upon the minds of the vampires that robbed them of their consciousness, replacing it with the bliss of deep slumber from which they instantly fell down from where they stood like a flock of docile sheep.

"You guys can come out now…some help you are." Alex said, pouting in exasperated reproof.

"I can't help but notice that the unwelcomed guests are still alive." Lestat said as he and Armand emerged from the shadows.

" _Unwelcomed guests huh? I'm pretty sure you let them in."_ Alex thought sarcastically though he projected an uninterested expression on his face. "Technically they're undead, just like you guys." He then said in a cold voice.

"I know that your powers have evolved to the point where you can now influence the very fabric of reality itself on a whim. You know that they are a danger to Bella…you could've vaporized them with a mere thought but you didn't. I wonder why." Lestat said inquisitively with a weird smile on his face.

"There isn't really a point in killing them. They'll just send another one to take their place. It's better to keep them alive so that they can deliver a message to their masters that we will not take part of whatever it is they're scheming." Alex explained pragmatically though there was a certain tremble in his voice that made Lestat grin mischievously.

"Is that really it?" Lestat said in an incredulous tone while the grin on his face broadened.

"Well, what else could it be?" Alex awkwardly queried a counter question.

"That Jane…you fancy her don't you." Lestat teased like a sly fox. "She's extremely dangerous and you like it…..a lot."

" _Throwing his trash on my side of the yard. How freakin typical of him…..though honestly that Jane is kind of cute, and the way her eyebrows twitch whenever she has something nasty in mind its…..well….its kinda turning me on? Wow, I just realized how twisted my taste is when it comes to women."_ Alex thought awkwardly though the expression on his face remained cold and emotionless. "Preposterous." He then retorted in vehement denial.

"Preposterous? Really? Lestat said with an impish chortle. "Then why are you wearing your coy smile just a while ago when you were talking to her." He then continued in the same playful manner.

"What…no...it's more like a goofy smile." Alex said stutteringly followed by a nervous smirk. "It's..the side effect of my anti-depressants…which…I…took earlier." He then continued, stammering in awkward intervals as he spoke, followed by edgy pauses on each lacuna making it quite obvious that he's lying.

"That's so cute. You're a terrible liar." Lestat said as if he was talking to a little boy. "Just so you know, you ssstt..utt…errr whenever you're nervous or hiding something." He then continued with the bantering.

"No I don't." Gathering all his faculties, Alex spoke straight albeit with an almost insurmountable difficulty.

"….Also you scratch your nose every time you lie."Lestat said in a deadpan tone, pointing out the young man's peculiar motor tic.

At that moment Alex was about to scratch his nose but held all he could and restrained himself from doing so. "Have not…." He then said defensively in a childlike manner. The expression on his face was priceless, it was pure awkwardness sprinkled with a bit of annoyance.

"Aww that look on your face as you are inordinately controlling yourself from your awkward foible, it's so cute." Lestat chaffed some more with a crooked grin deeply carved in his mouth.

"I already told you I'm not….." Alex protested exasperatedly but was cutoff.

"You remind me of Louis when he first met me." Lestat smilingly muttered. His tone quickly changed from playful to that of mellow and nostalgic. "Outwardly he looks like your average nice guy, but like you he has a certain penchant for dangerous individuals."

To this, Armand didn't say a word but sarcastically rolled his eyes. _"Turning the conversation in to a compliment of himself as per freakin usual. What a conceited, self-absorbed attention whore."_ He then thought in sarcastic derision.

"Everything was perfect between our arrangements. We even adopted a daughter, Claudia." Lestat said with genuine happiness on his face as he sifted throughout the memories of his immortal life, though he himself acknowledged that the remembrance thereof was nothing more than the stirring of dead embers. Still, he couldn't help himself but grope back to a time when he once resided in New Orleans, to that incredible years when he reveled on the blood of Creole women and southern royalties alike, but like an eternal flame, one memory burned with unfailing luster; the memory of Louis Ponte du Lac, whom he loved dearly and found the latter's lingering respect for life amusing.

"But from what I heard didn't they secretly hated you that's why they had you poisoned then slit your throat, and later on tried to burn you." Alex said awkwardly as he shrugged, incurring a buzz-kill to Lestat and causing Armand to snicker.

"No, it's just a minor setback that could have been easily fixed…." Lestat said annoyed but maintained his composure.

Armand scoffed with a loud "Pfft!" earning him Lestat's ire.

"That is until a little home-wrecking ginger came…." Lestat retorted with crossed arms while glaring at Armand, not exerting any effort to mask his irritation.

"The way I remember it he came to me." Armand countered with a smug smile on his face. "It's not my fault he wanted someone….I don't know…..younger."

" _Jeez, no wonder that Louis guy want nothing to do with these two. They must have driven the poor chap nuts from all this incessant petty squabbling_." Alex thought awkwardly with a deadpan expression on his face as Lestat and Armand continued their jeer fueled repartee.

"You're well over five hundred years old, or did your advanced age made you forget that!" Lestat exclaimed that made Armand scowl at him. "There's also the fact that you're the oldest between the three of us." He then continued but suddenly stopped as if a strange thought made its way to the crevices of his brain.

Strangely, it would seem that the same thought came to Armand as he too suddenly turned taciturn and introspective before he and Lestat traded glances, confirming that they indeed have a similar notion.

Subsequently, both vampires then slowly turned their probing eyes towards Alex, as if silently demanding to know a certain detail about him.

"What?" Alex was seemingly oblivious at first but quickly discerned the intention of those dissecting stares. "Dude I'm just seventeen….and you guys are messing me up." He then said in a deadpan monotonous tone with an equally blank expression on his face.

"Okay, we seemed to have strayed out of topic…..which was it again? Lestat said with a half-smile on his face.

"Alex having a big smile over Jane." Armand chaffed ecstatically.

" _Oh boy, now they're about to go double team on me."_ Alex thought as his brow contracted in to a single line above the blank expression on his face. "I refuse to take part of this childish triviality any longer." He then said in a dignified manner though he braced himself for he knew that the taunting vampires would only banter him some more. "And for the record, the big smile you were talking about was wrought by my anti-depressants, as I recalled telling you guys earlier."

"One question though." Lestat inquired with a straight face.

"If you must." Uneasily, Alex said in a perfunctory tone.

"Is _that_ also a side effect of the Valium?" Lestat said casually, pointing out the bulge on the young man's swim trunks.

At that point Alex's face flushed red like a tomato while he sheepishly covered his nether regions with his hands. "You…uhm..noticed?" Uneasily, he inquired in a hushed, whisper like voice. "Do you think she saw it too?" He then continued, ever so flustered from the embarrassment.

"It's really hard not to." Armand euphemistically said in a soft voice and smile in hopes of assuaging the mortified young man.

"Yeah, that thing is huge. Seriously did you tuck a beer can underneath your trunks?" Lestat further teased then chuckled heartily.

"Ugh….can we please stop talking about this now?" Shamefaced, Alex implored sheepishly.

"Oh don't be so modest, cause that thing between your legs isn't." Lestat joshed in a coquettish voice.

Out of sudden the countenance on Alex's face assumed a deathly serious expression as he became unusually focused on the hinged patio that was just adjacent to the pool as if he saw something that was imperceptible to his companions. Utilizing his powers along with his deep understanding of time he then manipulated the temporal flow around his body, twisting and warping it through sheer force of will, allowing him to stride with unfathomable swiftness and agility, appearing as an indiscernible blur when viewed by an observer with supernatural eyesight as he moved at high relativistic speeds.

Around this time a crimson katar-like ethereal blade manifested just above Alex's wrist. The weapon itself was a construct of pure entropy summoned from the epicenter of all creation and destruction, and focused in to a fearsome incandescent blade.

With preternatural celerity he then charged in to the direction of the hinged patio and slashed with his blade an anthropomorphic silhouette which was actually a cloaked shadow clone of Naruto that was conjured to covertly gather intel. The entire affair lasted only an interim of nanoseconds that the shadow clone wasn't able to neither respond quick enough nor defend itself from the attack, causing it to be cleanly sliced asunder as the blade of entropy passed through its body effortlessly, bisecting it in to two halves that quickly expired with a puff of smoke.

"What was that?" Startled, Lestat inquired sternly as he and Armand fall back instinctively in to a defensive stance.

"One of Naruto's clones." Alex said in an initially flat and emotionless tone. "Can't he see that they've already won? Bella despise me now and she's about to marry Edward. Isn't it enough for them to just know that I'm miserable? What else could they possibly want! Does it bring them such joy to further humiliate me by desecrating the sanctity of my privacy and further mock me at my worst! " With a clenched fist he then continued with desolating bitterness and barely restrained wrath that so colored his low but singularly penetrating hiss-like voice while the blue of his eyes became purple-like in shade as they started to faintly glow.

"That may not be his intention." Armand said musingly in a soft voice.

"What do you mean?" Alex queried in a much calmer tone as he eased up a little.

"He may have come here to bury the hatchet." Armand replied with slight optimism.

"I very much doubt it….but that is a possibility." Alex responded, pondering as he spoke.

"Maybe you should've asked him first before you cut him in two." Lestat jested good naturedly to help ease up the discussion.

"I got carried away, sorry." Alex shrugged sheepishly.

"One more thing. Errealth once told me that the shadow clone jutsu allows the user to gain the experience of the clone during its existence. This means that Naruto already knew what happened here." Lestat muttered in an increasingly worried voice.

"Don't worry about it. The weapon I used severed the clone's metaphysical connection to the original. Naruto will know that his jutsu has been undone but he'll get nothing….well actually, technically speaking, he's go'na feel something." Alex said tranquilly in reassurance along with a boyish smile.

"How about them?" Lestat said, subtly tilting his head to the direction of the unconscious Volturi guards.

"They can certainly not stay here. They'll be thirsty when they wake up and we don't really want then to be feeding on the mansion's staff now do we?" Armand pointed out.

"Can you guys please remove them from my property…..somewhere far away would be nice." Alex said boyishly, somewhat trying to be cute as he made his request.

"Can't you just wave your hand and then they will be somewhere else?" Lestat said with a deadpan expression on his face.

"Fine…but you guys should learn to fix your mess next time." Alex sighed as he flicked his wrist causing Jane and the other Volturi guards to melt upon the air like smoke and be transported thousands of miles from where they were. "Ah well, I better go. I have a more pressing problem at hand to get acquainted with." He then continued in a casual tone, trying to be nonchalant as he walked away from Armand and Lestat.

"Who do you think will be in his mind when he's…..fixing his other problem? Bella or Jane?" Lestat whisperingly inquired and at the same time quipped in a sensual tenor after making sure that Alex was out of earshot.

"I'm going with Jane. How about you?" Armand smirked devilishly.

"Jane…definitely Jane." Lestat muttered, sniggering. "Now, I might be wrong but we may be witnessing the beginnings of love here."

"I heard that.….and its none of your business." Alex said childishly as he turned around and immaturely sticks his tongue out that made both vampires chuckle some more.

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(Cullen's Residence)

"I'm so happy for you guys" Alice said excitedly as she held Bella's hand in congratulation to her being engagement to Edward.

"Thanks" Bella said with a vague smile while Edward can't help but smile as well.

"Is there something wrong dear?" Esme inquired in a maternal tone which made the rest of the coven look at Bella out of curiosity.

At this point Bella took the opportunity to say what's in her mind. "You all know what I want." She then said that made the Cullen's taciturn while the expression on Edward's face was that of bitter disapproval, it was quite evident that he's against the idea. "And I know how much I'm asking for. The only thing that I can't think of it to be fair is to vote."

"You don't know what you're talking about." Edwards said in a low voice.

"Shut up." Bella whisperingly reproached that made Alice and Jasper smile furtively while Emmett and Naruto wasn't as subtle with their hearty laughter.

"Whipped like a puppy." Naruto subtly whispered to Emmett that made both of them smirk.

"Alice" Bella said, asking for her vote.

"I already considered you my sister." Alice said as he walked towards Bella and hugged her. "Yes" She then cast her vote with a smile on her face. "Yes"

"Thank you." Bella said gratefully.

"I vote yes." Jasper spoke second "It would be nice to not want to kill you all the time." He then said that made Alice chuckle a little while Bella had mixed feelings about it.

"Im sorry." Rosalie said in a low voice, looking at Bella. "This isn't a life I would have chosen for myself, and I wish there would have been someone who could have voted no for me. So no"

"Hell yeah." Emmet stepped cheerily up, hugged Bella like a sister, picking her up and spinning her around before setting her back down.

"I already consider you a part of the family. Yes" Esme said with a maternal smile on her face.

"An immortal life is often a lonely life, but since you got Eddy right there then I suppose I would say yes." Naruto said jovially to Bella. "Welcome to the family." He then continued with a big smile on his face.

"Why are you doing this to me? You know what this means." Edward said in a low voice of melancholy reproof.

"You've chosen not to leave without here which leaves me no choice. I won't lose my son." Carlisle walked forward then liked at Edward "So yes." He then said to Bella with a gentle smile.

Everyone was seemingly contented with the outcome, save Edward who was a little bit sullen but has decided that it.

"So….this cause for a celebration!" Emmett said boisterously which made Edward roll his eyes.

"Second that!" Naruto quipped as if they're still deliberating.

Out of sudden however, he felt something strange. At first it was just a slight tingling in his body but it wasn't long before the sensation worsened in to a pain of almost intolerable degree. He fell down to his knees as he felt like his torso was being cut and burned at the same time by a sword heated to a white hot incandescence.

"Naruto what's happening? Are you alright?" Carlisle worriedly inquired as he saw Naruto on the floor, the pupils of the latter's eyes contracted from what seemed to be intense pain.

"Aaaargh damn it!" Naruto groaned and gasped from a shortness of breath wrought by unimaginable agony for he now felt that he was being emulated by the unquenchable fires of the netherworld. He could feel his flesh crisping, then charring, and finally crumbling off from his bones. Then as abruptly as the pain started it then abated completely and without any trace, though it left the shinobi exhausted. His body and limbs were heavy, as if they had been turned to some denser element than human flesh, or had been subjected to the gravitation of a black hole.

"What happened?" Jasper inquired in a worried tone.

"That bastard." Naruto hissed mirthlessly while his eyes narrowed as he slowly regained his strength back.

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(Mont Blanc – Later that Day)

Vampiric eyes snapped open. They were black as onyx as if its owner has abstained from feeding on blood for weeks, and it would seem so for Lucius felt a strange sensation as if his throat was on fire and he desperately craved to feed.

As he shifted his gaze, he realized that he was no longer where he was when he slipped in to unconsciousness but was in a place where all he could see were gaunt mountains whose sheer cliffs and pinnacles were topped with snow, and around those nether slopes the rocks had climbed like an inundating sea. As he further looked around, he saw his fellow Volturi guards lying on the cold snow and were beginning to rouse from their slumber.

"What happened?" Alec asked, confused and bewildered.

"Were no longer at Forks….well actually I recognize this place. We are in the Alps, between the borders of France and Italy." Demetri said in a hollow pondering voice.

"But how did we end up here." Felix queried.

"I wish I know." Demetri answered.

As the other vampires ponder out how they ended up on the snow blanketed slopes of Mont Blanc, Jane on the other hand was seemingly pensive about something. Gazing blankly, she was lost in reveries as she could only think about her encounter with that strange boy; his eyes that were of a bright sapphire blue, with molten depths into which the soul was fain to plunge as into the soft waters of a summer ocean; the curve of his lips was enigmatic, a little mournful, and gravely tender; his golden hair, that was brownish rather than blond, which fell over his neck and ears in wavy ripples confined by a plain fillet of silver; and his voice which was melodic and has burned softly in her memory has left behind a tantalizing sense of indescribable delight which forgotten dreams may sometimes leave.

"Aro will not like this." Alec mumbled.

"It's Caius I'm worried about." Lucius responded in a low voice of trepidation.

"What should we do now?" Alec asked Jane though he got no response for it would appear that the latter was preoccupied and has something in mind. "Jane?" He then emphasized, calling her in an inquisitive tone, as if asking if she's alright.

Hearing his brother's voice, the sweetness of Jane's musings was severed from the clouds and her mind was forced back in to the abyss of harsh reality. "We don't have a choice. We must go to Voltera and report what happened." She then said as the countenance of her face assumed its cold and impassive expression.

Unlike her companions who at the time strongly felt the thirst of blood and the inclination to feed on the nearest human in sight, strangely, Jane has no such problem. Her eyes sported the vivid red of a vampire who just fed and indeed she felt as if she just did. She always yearned for human blood but not this time for she felt like she could stand in a river of blood and resist its drug like allure.

At that point, Jane felt that there was something in her neck. Checking it, she found out that she was wearing a beautiful necklace of intricately linked platinum from which hanged a pendant of shimmering multi-faceted gem that was as red as blood. The jewel it would seem was wrought of condensed life energy and radiated an aura that hugged her and revitalized every cell in her body, indefinitely sustaining her with raw vitality to the point that she no longer feels the need to feed.

It made Jane beam, though it was not the evil grin of the sadistic vampire she was known to be but the gentle smile of a girl who tasted the sweet nectar of love for the very first time.

 **-End**

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 **Hey there Folks!**

 **I hope you enjoyed reading.**

 **As you may have noticed this chapter is a filler. I'm still having a bit of trouble incorporating some concept and ideas. I did scrape a few of my drafts for what supposed to be this chapter because I feel that Im not giving enough justice to the awesome inputs you guys gave me.**

 **Anyways, I hope that things work out well and I hope that I will be able to publish the next chapter soon. And as always any suggestions and ideas to improve the story are very much welcomed.**

 **Cheerio :)**


	21. Chapter 21: Shades of Gray

(Jake's House)

 _Childhood is not from birth to a certain age. And at a certain age the child is grown and puts away childish things. Childhood is the kingdom where nobody dies._

It was raining hard that day, every drop falling to the ground reverberated a booming sad note, and the entirety of the torrential shower was seemingly like a morose requiem that beat upon the heart of those perceptive enough to discover its hidden song.

Billy was on his way to the kitchen to get him a can of Budweiser when he saw the outrage in his son's face as Jake glared indignantly at a thing the latter was holding in his hand.

"Jake…what's wrong?" Billy queried paternally, worried. His inquiry was met with silence however as Jake continued to glare at it until it began to crumple from the latter's hand savagely tightening grip.

At that point Billy began to wonder restlessly the contents of the piece of paper on Jake's hand to elicit such an anger and melancholy from the latter. Then out of sudden, seemingly no longer able to contain the fury brewing inside of him, Jake stormed out of their house.

"Jake, Jake….Jacob!" Billy exclaimed, calling his son's name with an unmistakable urgency in his voice, trying to stop him from what he feared he's about to do and at the same time pleading him to calm down, but it was in vain for it would seem that his voice once again fell on deaf ears as Jake continued pacing with livid strides then subsequently transformed in to his wolf form and sprinted in to the forest, disappearing in to the shadows cast upon by the spreading oaks.

Stooping down from his wheelchair, Billy then caught sight of the thing that caused much of his son's indignation and grief. Laying indifferently on the flagstone and dripping wet from the rain was a letter of invitation cordially inviting them to Edward and Bella's wedding.

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(One Month Later)

Brooding stoically, Naruto can't help but notice that something was amiss. If there is one thing he's certain of, it is that he was no longer in Forks, seeing the sheer quantity of sloping dunes on a sea of sand that stretched out as far as his eyes can see.

"Kurama, do you have any idea where the hell are we?" Naruto bewilderedly asked the fox but strangely got no response. "Well this is strange." He then muttered to himself.

"Naruto" Said a disembodied voice in a whisper like modulation, as if the wind itself was talking to the shinobi.

"Who's there!" Naruto responded, pulling a kunai from a storage seal on his arm then shifting in to a defensive stance. Though at the back of his head he can't help but wonder that the voice sounded quite familiar to him.

"Naruto." The shinobi once again heard the pleasantly gentle but singularly penetrating voice as he took notice of the sand particles dancing gracefully in the air.

"That voice…..but it can't be." Naruto mumbled in a hollow utterance in both disbelief and surprise.

Out of sudden the shinobi felt that a hand gently patted him on his shoulder. Then as he shifted his gaze he saw someone familiar. It was Gaara. The latter has a tranquil bearing on his face and was wearing the Allied Shinobi Forces uniform, similar to the last he saw him more than ten thousand years ago.

"Gaara? Is that really you?" Naruto gaspingly queried, he couldn't believe what his eyes were seeing at the moment.

"It has been a long time Naruto." Gaara replied. Smiling amicably at Naruto, glad to see an old friend once more.

"But this is impossible…I saw it with my own eyes…..you and the sealing squad" Naruto mumbled, he didn't have the heart to finish his sentence for it was too painful to remember. He saw personally how the juubi, with its unfathomable power, extinguished Gaara and eradicated the entire division he led with a single blast from its tailed beast ball during the final moments of the fourth great shinobi war.

"Naruto" Gaara said serenely in a somewhat solemn voice. "Like many others I'm no longer of this world. We are in your dream. It's the only way we could communicate. I have temporary come back to tell you something important." He then continued.

"I knew this was too good to be true." Naruto smirked in melancholy and dejection. "But ya'know I can't explain in words how happy I am to see you Gaara, even if none of this is real." He then continued smiling with genuine happiness but at the same time he can't help but feel a nostalgic sadness for he knew that his friend along with all the wonders of this fleeting dream will cease to exist once he awakened from sleep.

"Don't be sad Naruto." Gaara consoled in a soft voice. "My time has come and I have come to terms with my fate knowing that I've had the great privilege of fighting with you side-by-side and the even greater honor of being your friend. We shall meet again when the time comes but for now destiny has appointed a much more important part for you to play." He then said with a placid smile.

"Gaara" Naruto said glumly. He wanted to say a thousand words and ask him a thousand questions but in the end he could only hollowly mutter his name.

"Please take care of him. He can be stubborn, uncooperative and downright uncouth from time to time but…well, I hope you could connect with him better than I ever did." Gaara said smiling as he slowly thinned away in to nothingness.

"Wait!" Naruto exclaimed hoping that his friend would stay a while longer but it was in vain, Gaara was gone. Once again, since his encounter with Sakura and Sasuke, Naruto felt that he has been left alone in the crossroads; with all his friends gone to the realm of eternal respite from which he could never follow. This has made him question the purpose of his very existence and for a moment he contemplated if it would've been better if he had died that day, ten thousand years ago, than awakening millennia later on a strange era that no longer has use or place for the warriors of the old. But before he could continue his glum musing, he heard the voice of Kurama fell from the sky like thunder that pulled his essence from the dream realm and back in to the waking world.

"Kid wake up!" Kurama said with utter urgency in a stentorian voice.

"Hey what's up?" Naruto yawned, just waking up from sleep. The sun was already setting as he gazed at the fiery orb descending in to the horizon. Subsequently, he remembered that earlier he decided to go in to the forest and isolate himself to ponder some things out undisturbed when at some point or another he dozed off.

"We have a situation." Kurama growled irately inside of Naruto's head.

"What situation?" Naruto inquired bewildered as he introspectively looked into his own mind and saw the fox with a rather uneasy and a bit irritated look on his face. "I'm sure it can't be that bad." He then said to Kurama though his words didn't assuage the fox but rather elicited a sarcastic look as if the latter was telling him to go look for himself how bad the situation is.

"Hey I'm back!" Said a shrill and nauseating voice that mirrored the rather obnoxious qualities of its owner.

"That voice." Naruto's eyes widen as he quickly turned his head to the voice's origins. "Shukaku?" He then muttered flummoxed and gawked comically as he saw the tanuki.

"Missed me? Yeah I know I missed me too. Now that all pleasantries are over with let me make a suggestion….let's go to Sunna and destroy it." Shukaku said in a trollish but bombastic tone which slowly assumed a bloodthirsty cadence as he spoke.

"Ahhh crap." Is the only thing Naruto could mumble loosely before he face palmed himself not knowing what to do next.

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(Cullen's House)

With both apprehension and hope, Alice watched Bella as the latter walked wobbly on her wedding shoes.

"You just have to break them in." Alice said sunnily with keen optimism, trying to encourage Bella as she felt the latter was about to give up.

"I've been breaking them in…for three days." Bella replied, seemingly about to trip but manage to hold on. "Can I just go barefoot?" She then said. It was just a sarcastic statement at first but later on the thought of walking unshod on the aisle was seemingly a more appealing option over the elegantly beautiful but uncomfortable shoes.

"No. Absolutely not." Alice said vehemently, it was unquestionably obvious that she's strongly against the idea.

"It's a little much you know. The dress, the shoes….all of this" Bella said awkwardly.

"No, it's exactly enough. Tomorrow will be perfect." Alice reassured, smiling.

"We're do you want this boss." Emmett asked, carrying a large log on his shoulder.

"On either side of the aisle." Alice replied as she temporarily diverted her attention to Emmett.

"What aisle?" Rosalie stated, pointing out that there isn't an aisle yet.

"Does no one have vision!" Alice exclaimed like a professional wedding planner frustrated on her staff, walking to the two to personally oversee and closely coordinate the preparations with religious zeal and nigh-perfect attention to the smallest of detail.

Seeing Alice temporarily distracted, Bella took the opportunity to get off her wedding shoes and change in to her snickers, sighing a breath of relief.

"Maybe you should wear those instead of them shoes on your wedding. After all what's the point of looking good when you're feet are killing you?" Naruto shrugged which made Bella snigger with him lightheartedly. "Though don't tell Alice I said that." He then continued awkwardly in a whisper like voice.

"Don't tell me what?" Alice said with crossed arms and a furrowed brow as she abruptly appeared behind Naruto. Apparently, through her powers, she was able to discern the shinobi's playful comment.

"Nothing" Naruto said awkwardly with a chibi face as he hastily made his comical exit.

"You, I want you to go home and take a lot of beauty sleep. That's an order." Alice quipped to Bella, hugging her, genuinely excited and happy for the latter to be a part of their family.

Meanwhile, Edward caught with Naruto as the shinobi was at the kitchen pouring himself some apple juice.

"Naruto, where were you last night?" Edward asked to initiate the conversation.

"Oh you know….you wouldn't understand." Naruto said with a jovial voice then suddenly decided to joke around and make an impression of Edward.

"Seriously." Edward said with a deadpan expression on his face from yet again falling victim to his wisecracking golden haired sibling. "I don't talk like that."

"Yes you do." Naruto made another impression of Edward. "Dude you sound like a constipated poetry major." He then continued followed by an impish chuckle.

"No. I don't." Edward said, trying to be nonchalant about it though the blonde's jokes were starting to get through on him.

"Yes, you do." Naruto said trollishly then chuckled some more.

"No, I don't." Edward repudiated, though this time with much more emphasized intonations, enunciating every syllable like he was talking to a mentally handicapped person.

"I know you are but what am I?" Naruto began to turn the conversation in to childish bantering that made Edward roll his eyes out of exasperation.

"Anyways….Naruto, I need your help." Diverting from the current tenor of their conversation, Edward then spoke in an astute yet pleading voice that caught the attention of the shinobi.

So then Edward told his sibling the favor he wanted to ask from him. At first Naruto was hesitant and gave him an incredulous gaze as, more than once, he skeptically questioned him if he was serious about what he wanted him to do but later on the shinobi quickly grasped the urgency behind the request and finally agreed.

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(The Next Day)

Returning from his seclusion, Jake caught the scent of someone familiar as he was traversing the tree wreathed slopes of the dark forest. Deciding to investigate, he tracked the source of the scent and came upon a glade hidden by the sullen umbrage casted by the surrounding ancient trees that towered thickly.

Upon the glade's midst there was a pond, and on the largest rock that sat on its shallow banks he saw someone familiar. It was Alex. The latter was sitting somberly on the boulder with a half-eaten bag of pistachios on his side. He was steeped in gloom and solemnly gazing upon the crystal clear water that was like liquefied glass glimmering as a river of sunshine clear as molten gold softly caressed its surface. Jake thought that probably, like him, Alex went in to a self-imposed solitude when he heard the news.

"Hey Jake." Alex greeted in a gentle voice without turning his gaze off the waters.

To Jake's surprise when the young man detected him. In his wolf form he made sure to creep in to the bushes unseen and unheard to observe though it would seem that Alex was aware of his presence even from the start.

"How did you know it was me?" Jake inquired as he shifted back in to his human form. "Can you like read minds now?" He then queried further but this time as a jest.

"No, but even as a child I could always sense the emotions of others." Alex replied in a mellow flowing voice. "I knew it was you because I have sensed a pain that is the same as mine." He then continued with a pensive smile.

"Yeah…about that..." Jake muttered in a morose tone.

"Uninvited too huh?" Alex said emphatically.

"Actually I was….I just decided not to go." Jake replied awkwardly, he didn't know how to say the truth in a way that will not overly hurt his already crestfallen friend.

"Oh…It would seem that I'm the only one left out after all." Alex said tranquilly followed by a rather pensive chuckle in a feeble attempt to conceal his forlorn. Though he strove to make his statement sound like it was a joke and try to mask his dejection behind a light hearted smile, one could easily detect the sadness gilding his voice as he spoke.

"It's unfair how they treat you." Jake said solemnly with a clenched fist. "I know you didn't do all those horrible things they are accusing you of. You've been controlled, against your will." He then continued in a tone that was becoming sterner as he spoke.

"Thanks Jake. I appreciate it, really, but….." Alex replied initially with a smile as he partially lowered his head and glumly looked at his reflection on the pool. "….the truth is I could have persuaded Errealth to stop but I too was consumed by my jealousy and selfish desires…and thus I turned a blind eye. Whether indeed I committed the atrocities myself or failed to do the right thing that caused such atrocities to be committed, it doesn't really matter now. Personally, I don't see any distinction. The way I see it I'm equally guilty as well." He then said disconsolately to Jake in a guilt ridden voice as he turned his dispirited gaze towards Jake and tried to smile in a somewhat gentle manner.

"Don't blame yourself too much. Anyone would've done the same thing given the situation." Jake said encouragingly to help mitigate the young man's melancholy.

"You really think so?" Alex muttered diffidently while a spark of hope became visible in his eyes.

"Yeah." Jake nodded firmly, implying to the latter to take heart.

"Thanks, I really needed that." Alex said, seemingly a bit assuaged.

"One question though." Jake said in an inquisitive and curious tone.

"Yeah?" Alex tilted his head a bit in slight bewilderment.

"What are you doing here? I mean this part of the forest is way too deep, not to mention dangerous." Jake queried curiously with a bit of suspicion.

"Well, you see this is my thinking spot. I discovered this place sometime later when I first arrived at Forks. I often come here when I want to be alone…or to reflect on things….like how to cope with our current predicament for example. " Alex replied nonchalantly though Jake noticed how the former utilized a lot of euphemisms on the last part of his sentence.

"Looks like you're handling it quite well to me." Jake quipped, trying to lighten up the topic.

"I don't really mind if Bella would hate me, just knowing that she's happy is enough." Alex said sincerely in a hollow voice, smiling. In some strange way, the tiny glimmer of joy that the image of Bella brought as he thought of her made him smile ever so slightly before the full gravity of reality quelled that spark, though of course he never let Jake notice this and maintained a jovial façade. "Plus the Valium I took earlier just kicked-in and it's doing wonders." Shrugging, he then continued in a casual tone.

"Valium?" Jake said with a furrowed brow, the expression on his face changed from pity to a bit of disappointment and slight prejudice.

Noticing this, Alex shook his head and chuckled. "No, I'm not a druggie…you can put your eye brow down now." He then responded as if he had read what Jake was thinking. "My therapist prescribed it to help lower my anxiety levels and prevent me from spiraling down in to depression again." He then explained calmly.

"Oh" Jake muttered, a little bit embarrassed from jumping in to conclusions. "Depression…I'm no stranger to that either." He then sighed heavily as he looked at his reflection on the pool and glumly think of Bella and wished the she have chosen him over Edward.

Seeing Jake's sudden dejection an idea popped up in to Alex's head. "Perhaps a hobby of some sort will keep us distracted from all this….for instance I'm thinking of taking square dance lessons next week, whatever on earth that is…though I heard its quite fun…and I need a partner." He then continued in a pleasantly amicable tone.

"That's actually an interesting idea….not with the square dancing part though." Jake chuckled, finding their mutual situation ironically laughable.

"Well, there's always a spot available if you change your mind." Alex offered in a somewhat encouraging but at the same time quipping tone. He himself can't help but snicker realizing the irony. "Ugh…our life suck." He then exclaimed with playful sarcasm that made them laugh even more heartily.

"You know, in some twisted way, our situation is quite funny if you think about it….this is one of those awkward moments like when you kissed a girl for the first time then end up both your braces getting stuck together." Jake said as he further chuckled, cracking from his own statement but suddenly sobered up as he shifted his gaze to Alex. The latter was looking at him in a weird manner, his head was slightly tilted and there was a puzzled countenance on his face, seemingly unable to relate. "You do like girls? Right?" He then inquired awkwardly.

"Yeah but….I kinda….never really kissed one before." Alex said uncomfortably in a sheepish voice. "Don't tell anyone." He then continued in a low but stern hiss.

"You? No?" Jake said with an elongated cadence and an incredulous stare out of surprise, finding the statement a bit hard to believe considering the young man's singularly sharp good looks reinforced by the fact that he is quite wealthy.

"I never really had the opportunity." Alex replied stoically and shrugged. "Even from childhood my parents isolated me from everyone else. I was homeschooled from childhood throughout my early teens, and was never allowed to mingle with other kids of my age. I was always alone as far as I could remember, with only books to keep me company. Though, I always hoped that like the characters on my books I would one day find an abundance of friends to cherish and a girl to love….and in the most unexpected of ways I found both here in Forks." He then continued with a somewhat blank stare as he sifted through his memories and recounted his childhood, though he initially started somber a gentle smile of genuine happiness emanated from his face as he reached the later part of his story.

"Wow that's tough buddy." Jake said empathically.

"It's not all that bad." Alex said trying to cheer up but Jake was aware that it was just a front to hide his pain for the former hate to inconvenience anyone with his personal problems. "I do have some fun from time to time…..for example that time when I secretly sneaked out of the house then raided the neighboring vineyard and gobbled up their produce like the little glutton that I am." He then continued as he chuckled lightheartedly.

"What happened next?" Jake amusedly queried, eagerly wanting to hear the rest of it.

"Well, I wasn't aware that that the vineyard was riddled with cameras. When my father found out about it he was furious…..after some harsh words he proceeded to beat me half to death with a cane while my mother….just watched coldly." Alex replied in an initially casual tone however his voice became progressively hollow and brooding as he continued.

To this, Jake couldn't utter a word and could only listen intently.

"But boy was it worth it. The feeling from that single glimpse of fleeting freedom…I can't really explain it in words you know….all I know is that I was happy and content beyond measure. It was the second best thing that happened in my life." Alex said with a sunny disposition and a cheerful smile as he ruminated that particular moment of his life.

"Do you hate them….your parents?" Jake inquired in a low voice, though he wasn't sure himself if the question was an appropriate one to inquire.

"No." Alex replied in a tranquil voice. "Though to tell you the truth I felt very little sorrow when they died…..for you see, death is a much kinder fate than being slowly consumed by their greed and power hungry ambitions. You must think I'm a terrible person huh? I can't really blame you…I feel like a terrible person myself."

"I'm sorry." Jake apologized, feeling a bit of guilt for asking. "And no I do not." He then continued.

"No worries." Alex beamed, assuring him that was alright.

"So…what's the first?" Jake queried again with an awkward curiosity in his voice.

"I beg your pardon?" Alex replied with a confused mien on his face, obviously puzzled by what the question meant.

"….the best thing that happened in your life." Jake clarified.

A gentle yet nostalgic smile emanated from Alex's face. "It was the day I first saw Bella. I fell in love with her the moment I saw her on my first day at Forks-high." He then answered. "I always hoped that one day we could be more than friends but I never really had the courage to even ask her out. Now, it would seem that she doesn't want me even as a friend…..ironic huh?" He then continued in a stoic and hollow voice that reflected the pain of broken dreams.

"Did you regret loving her?" Jake inquired the very same question he has been asking himself lately.

No...never. Loving her was a mistake but I don't regret anything. It was a beautiful mistake that I will gladly repeat all over again in a heartbeat." Alex said smiling with genuine sincerity.

"Yeah, me too." Jake smiled back as the statement answered his brooding as well. "It doesn't make sense right? People might think we're gluttons for punishment." He then joked and laughed lightheartedly that made Alex chuckle with him as well.

"Well, in our defense, falling in love doesn't really have anything to do with reason. It's madness. A beautiful moment of magnificent insanity." Alex remarked that made both boys chuckle some more.

But as Jake laughed he couldn't help himself but become a bit meditative with regards to what he just heard. Though he knew that it was meant as a joke, there were so many truths embedded in it that provoked deep thoughts within him. " _It would be nice to see Bella as a human for the last time but I don't know if it's a good idea to go."_ He then furtively thought to himself.

"Right, let's go." Alex said amicably and gleamed as if he had read Jake's thoughts.

"I thought you can't…." Jake said in protest but was cutoff as he saw Alex's eyes glowed like flames burning with white hot intensity then after which the latter subsequently vanished in a flash of phantom light.

Out of the blue, Jake saw what looked like ripples forming in midair as if the very atmosphere was but a surface of a liquid that has been disturbed. The ripples then oscillated in a sporadic undulation before it expanded and with incomprehensible rapidity engulfed him. From his point of view, the landscape in front of him has seemingly distorted wildly like a fleeting mirage before it completely dissolved in to a dreamlike hallucination. Subsequently, the air became filled with webs of intricate colors, with swiftly changing kaleidoscopic glints whose numberless, unwonted hues and patterns were such as no mundane eye had ever beheld.

Inevitably, Jake has to shield his vision for the temporary abstraction of what is real and what is not was simply unbearable to a mortal eye as the very space folded itself. Strangely, as he opened his eyes once again he found himself standing in a different but familiar locus.

"What just happened?" Jake muttered as he confoundedly held his head, nauseous from the experience.

"We're at your house." Alex said as he materialized, startling Jake.

"But how did I end up hear." Jake queried, more confused than ever.

"I used my powers to temporarily weaken the fabric of space-time, just enough to allow me to tear a rift that linked our previous location to our current location; enabling us to travel instantaneously from one point to another without actually moving." Alex explained philosophically in a matter-of-fact tone.

"What?" Jake said with an elongated cadence and a confounded countenance on his face. "Can you repeat that again, this time in English." He then continued sardonically.

"Uhm in layman's term…we teleported." Alex responded with a slight deadpan expression on his face. "You may feel a bit dizzy and a little bit weird, it's the effect of space-time distortion but don't worry it'll pass."

"Okay...but why are we at my house." Jake inquired again as he looked at Alex, confused.

"I kinda know that you wanted to see Bella but you're afraid that she doesn't want to see you." Alex said that made Jake silent and put on face of deep and serious contemplation.

" _He's right. But how did he…"_ Jake thought. His mouth opened and was about to say a counter argument but was cutoff.

"It would mean a lot to her if you could come." Alex said, smiling gently in reassurance.

"Ok, maybe you're right about one thing or another but that's not what I meant earlier." Jake said, quickly stirring away from the previous topic. "What I'm saying is…why did you bring me here instead of going straight to the wedding?" Letting go of his previous suspicion that the latter could read another's mind he then comically queried in a curious and at the same time bewildered tone.

"Well, I can't expect you going there looking like that. I think it would be prudent if you'll at least change in to a shirt first." Alex answered sniggering that made Jake chortle as well as he realized that he was still half-naked.

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(Jake's House)

"Jake, uhmm are you sure that's what you'll wear?" Alex asked in a very polite manner though there seemed to be a certain dissatisfaction on his face as he awkwardly looked at the plain white shirt Jake was putting on.

Why? What's wrong with it?" Jake queried with a puzzled countenance on his face.

"Well….uhmm…it looks nice…but it wouldn't hurt if you'll make yourself more…presentable" Alex said in an awkward manner, choosing his words carefully as not to offend his friend. "If you want I have some tux you could borrow, I don't really mind. In fact I'll be happy to lend you one." He then offered genially.

"Nah, this will do." Jacob said, contented with the clothes on his back.

"If you say so." Alex conceded. "Well, I have to get going now. I hope everything goes well Jake." He then continued smiling as he wished the Quileute good luck.

"Aren't you coming?" Jake inquired, stumped.

"My presence there will only cause complications." Alex shrugged casually though his eyes betrayed the nonchalant façade he was trying to project. "Anyways, I have a feeling you'll have another guest very soon. See you Jake." He then continued, biding his farewell then subsequently vanished as he melted upon the air like dissipating smoke."

"Hey wait…" Jake appealed but it was met with no response. Out of sudden, he heard someone knock on the door as Alex had prognosticated just not too long ago. Baffled, he wasn't able to move from where he stood as he wondered who the guest would be.

"Anyone there?" A familiar voice called from the other side of the door.

"Naruto?" Jake said, recognizing the voice.

Opening the door Jake saw that it was Naruto indeed. The shinobi was seemingly in a cheery disposition and has a friendly smile on his face.

"Hey there." Naruto greeted jovially.

"Naruto, what are you doing here?" Jake inquired with a confused expression on his face.

"Well…..Edward kinda…asked me….." Naruto started with incoherent mumblings, seemingly unsure what to say. "Look, it would really mean a lot to Bella if you could come. You're her best friend. "He then continued calmly after regaining his composure back, encouraging Jake to go to the wedding.

"Yeah. I'm on my way there actually." Jake said with a blank expression.

"Wait...what? You're going there now looking like that?" Naruto inquired, curiously.

"Yes" Jake answered with an elongated cadence.

"Wearing that?" Naruto emphasized in a flat voice and with an unsatisfied look and a deadpan expression on his face as he gazed stoically at the ruffled shirt Jake was wearing.

"What's wrong with it?" Jake said in a manner that was much of a statement than an inquiry.

"Well…it's not too shabby but it wouldn't hurt if you'll wear a more decent looking thing for the occasion. A tux for example. I can let you borrow one of mine if you like…and I insist." Naruto said exuberantly, and though the shinobi's choice of words were a little bit blunt he meant it out of genuine concern and desire to help, rather than a slur.

"This would do." Jake chuckled. Naruto's statement reminded him of his earlier conversation with Alex and of how the former and the latter are so much alike in so many ways despite the fact that the two hated each other's guts.

"What's so funny? Did I say something funny?" Naruto inquired with a confused, comical chibi-like expression on his face.

"No. It's just…it's the same thing Alex said to me earlier." Jake elucidated while lightly chuckling.

"So that's what causing this strange feeling. I suspected that he was here earlier." Kurama said ominously inside of Naruto's head.

"I still can't believe that **Sunagakure** is no more." Shukakau said as he comically sulked in a dark corner of Naruto's mind, distant and uninterested with his new **jinchūriki's** current business. "Right! I will kill the one responsible for the hidden sand's destruction. I'm the only one who has the right to destroy that dump!" He then declared in a fit of blood thirst that made Kurama roll his eyes out of annoyance from the petulant tanuki.

"He's already dead." Kurama said that caught Shukaku's attention. "Naruto killed the guy about a year ago. Get on with the program you retarded squirrel." He then scoffed.

"What did you call me you dumb fox." Shukaku slowly turned his head to Kurama and spoke in a guttural voice as if goading the fox to settle their dispute with a trial by combat.

"I called you a retarded squirrel you useless bag of walking kitty litter." Kurama said with a nasty grin, accepting Shukaku's challenge and thinly veiling the ineffable rage behind that was about to explode at any moment.

"Stop it you two." Naruto hissed, breaking up the tailed beasts' argument before it gets any worse.

"I'm sorry, you're saying something?" Jake inquired, puzzled. He heard Naruto mumble something but it was unintelligible given his distance and the fact that shinobi murmured it in a barely audible mutter and in a different language that sounded a lot like Japanese but not quite.

"Nothing." Naruto replied awkwardly accompanied by an even more awkward chuckle. "What I'm saying is you don't really want to be associated with that guy. He is extremely dangerous and cannot be trusted." He then continued in a foreboding and mirthless tone.

"He said the same thing about you, you know." Jake chuckled as he recounted what he heard. "It's funny if you think about it; you two are so much alike and have so many similar traits that you are basically two peas in a pod." He then continued, chuckling some more.

"Ughhh…." Naruto shuddered. "I'm nothing like that lanky fairy boy! I mean look at him, he's a parasitic weakling who never did an honest day's work in his life! …if it weren't for the fact that he has more than enough money to burn that guy would so going to end up in gay porno." He then denied Jake's statement vehemently while at the same time cringed from the very thought of it.

"See, you guys even jeer each other in the same creative way." Jake added, sniggering.

"Wait….what cheap lies did that spoiled himbo told you about me?" Pouting, Naruto said with a furrowed brow.

"Well he said that…" Jake started, trying to stop himself from laughing. "…he said that if Justin Bieber would lay an egg, you'll be the ugly ass 'biebling' that would hatch from it. He also said that you're a pervert who, for some reason, love to wear silly outfits as if you buy all your clothes from cartoon network; and also, your so called prized Nike shoe collection that you always brag to everyone looks so damn raggedy as if you danced with them on burning rubble." He continued. No longer able to contain his amusement the Quileute then loosed a roaring belly laugh.

The displeasure visibly rose from Naruto's cheeks as they become flushed from the burst of blood wrought by his exasperation. "I hate that bastard." He grumbled petulantly in a comedic manner. "I wish I have bigger feet so that it would hurt more when I kick his ass!" He then exclaimed hilariously that earned him a wry smile from Jake as the later shook his head, both from irony and amusement.

"Kidding aside, I think you two could be good friends if you'll just take the time and settle your differences and see each other eye-to-eye." Jake said sagaciously with wisdom beyond his years.

"Ugh…That thing you said, so disturbing on so many levels." Naruto shuddered again. "And the worst thing is I could no longer unhear it."

"Which one? That thing about you two can be good friends?" Jake trolled with an outwardly bewildered expression on his face to conceal his amusement from the blonde's overly hyped reaction.

"Aghh…don't say that. It's creepy, like seeing a cat walk on its hind legs." Naruto comically covered his ears and winced with an expression of sidesplitting aversion on his face like that of a child who've heard something inappropriate and thus scarred for life. "I think I need therapy after this." He then muttered while he shook his head.

"Good luck with that." Jake said with slight sarcasm as he mounted his motorcycle. "I'm off to the wedding. Hop in, I'll give you a lift there." He then continued.

"I have a much faster way." Naruto said with a mischievous smile as he placed his hand on Jake's shoulder and **hiraishined** themselves to a towering tree near their house of which he placed a thunder-god seal beforehand to serve as an access point for his jutsu.

"A little warning next time." Jake reproached incoherently and with wobbly legs like that of an inebriated person, feeling a vertiginous disorientation from the sudden shift of space.

"Oops sorry. Yeah, I forgot to warn you about that. Don't worry it will pass." Naruto chuckled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. Though the truth is he did it on purpose for some pay back.

 **-End**

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 **Hey there folks!**

 **Thanks so much for the awesome inputs and ideas you shared.**

 **Hope you awesome people enjoyed reading. So, we are now on the Breaking Dawn counterpart of the story. As you may have noticed, this chapter is mostly recounted on Jake's perspective and I really hope that I did justice to it.**

 **Anyways, if you guys noticed some grammar irregularities or wrong spellings I would greatly appreciate it if you can point them out to me so that I could exonerate them; and also, as always, I greatly appreciate the awesome inputs and if you have an idea or a suggestion that you think would improve the overall plot of the story and you would like to share just write them down on the review section and I'll be more than happy to look in to it.**

 **See you next chapter!**

 **Cheerio :)**


	22. Chapter 22: The Nightwalkers

Azure eyes slowly opened. With fluttering and hazy vision Naruto slowly moved his head from one direction to another and looked at his surroundings. He realized that he was standing on a ragged precipice and beneath his feet were billows of thick cloudlike fog obstructing his vision from perusing what lies beyond.

" **Fūton: Ressenpū** " Naruto exclaimed after weaving the prerequisite seals. He then exhaled a powerful stream of wind from his mouth as he moved the jutsu's aim in a sweeping motion to rake away the obstructing fog.

Perching, he then looked northward and spotted something as the last of the mist thinned away. It was a village built over a high plateau, above a pristine and ancient forest down the mountain's base. Indeed it was a strange sight. The structures of the said village was mainly composed of either conical or dome shaped buildings that along with the occasional needle like spires were fashioned by magically forging together metal, stone and living trees; and surrounding the village were a number of great ziggurats wrought of adamant night black stone mined deep from the earth that seemingly shimmered as the light of the sun touched it's gleaming polished surface.

Curiously gazing at the ziggurats Naruto hypothesized these structures to be forest temples dedicated to religious use of the strange village's equally eccentric denizens. However, as he moved his sight to the village itself he couldn't help but oddly feel some sense of familiarity.

Contemplatively, Naruto placed his hand on his chin as he sifted throughout his memories. Then like a feeble flame amidst the dark that ignited the wick of a lamp the shinobi finally remembers that he indeed visited the strange village way back when he was but a boy traveling with Jiraiya.

Time has made him forget the name of that village but he could still clearly recall that its people were scholarly and pacifistic though their ways seems strange when viewed by outsiders. Unfortunately, the latter quality has caused the neighboring villages and countries to view them with suspicion and distrust to the point that they were shunned and ostracized. Nonetheless, the people of that village didn't plant the seeds of hatred against their neighbors and were always friendly and welcoming to any travelers who wished to visit or stray upon their humble community.

As he walked to the village's direction Naruto recalled the first time he and his master traveled in to the said village. He remembered that on their way, most of the people they came about warned them to reconsider going to what they described as a god forsaken place; that the denizens residing on that village hidden by pale mists were a strange people that may look human superficially but aren't for they don't age nor they were susceptible to illness. This, they say is achieved through their practice of dark sorceries and by devouring the souls of the travelers who strayed upon their accursed lands. As a man of reason and adventure Jiraiya knew better and decided to push on, much to the blonde's displeasure, being easily frightened by such stories back when he was younger.

If there's any truth to the malicious rumors they heard it is that the people of the village atop the high plateau were strange indeed, but not in the way the peasants and the cutters of other neighboring settlements has described. On the contrary, the denizens of the said village were somewhat fairer than the average person; beautiful of face and light on their foot, moving gracefully on the mostly uneven and jagged surface of their homeland and leaving no tracks as they thread across mud or snow.

Naruto can't help but smirk as he remembered Jiraiya's hilarious reaction as the latter saw the giggling beautiful young maidens of that village. The blonde knew just by looking at the **sannin's** lecherous monkey face that his teacher wouldn't pass the opportunity to peep on them once they go to the bathhouse later.

Finally, with swift strides befitting a ninja of his caliber, Naruto reached the threshold of the village in no time. As he entered he saw someone familiar. Standing amidst the town square was a woman who, at one point, had a romantic connection with his master, Jiraiya. Her name was Kaede, and she looked exactly as Naruto remembered her. In her expression, there was a mixture of gentleness and grace, of regal imperiousness and feminine yielding. She was not tall, but was formed with exquisite voluptuous purity of line and contour. Her silky golden-brown hair fell over from his neck and ears like a smooth flowing river, and waved as a passing breeze blew softly on it. Her mesmerizing eyes were of dark sapphire blue, and gazing upon them feels like one was set adrift in to a sea of astral splendour and soul pacifying tranquility.

Strangely, she doesn't seem to age a day the last time he saw her. Though Naruto was certain that years have passed judging by the majestic tree near the town square that was just but a seedling the last time he was on the village. Superficially, this seems to have confirmed the gossips surrounding the village. Though Naruto knew better, he hypothesized that like the Uzumaki clan from which he hailed, the people of this village must have possessed incredible life forces that granted them very long lifespans.

To his shock, out of the blue a kunai flew whistling in. The projectile hit Kaede straight on her chest, near the left part of her sternum, puncturing her heart that caused her to collapse on the ground and waste away immediately.

"What in blue blazes just happened!" Dazed, Naruto muttered sharply as he turned around and extrapolated the kunai's origins.

To his unpleasant astonishment when he saw that the attack was from the combined forces of Konoha and Suna shinobis. It would seem the extreme distrust for these dark people has prompted the two most powerful ninja villages to assemble a joint extermination force to wipe them out of existence.

Despite the appeals of the village elders that they are of no threat to anyone, and the teary supplications for mercy of the mothers who hugged their frightened children earnestly, the shinobis paid no heed to this and coldly eliminated them with powerful jutsus and volleys of kunais and shurikens.

Disturbed, Naruto recognized the face of one of the attackers, it was Konohamaru. The latter looked to be in his late twenties now and is a jonin leading a contingent of the extermination squad.

"Konohamaru no!" Naruto exclaimed with stretched out arms as if in barricade to stop Konohamru from murdering these innocent people but it was of no use as the latter passed right through him as if he wasn't there.

Konohamaru then folded his hands in to seals and unleashed **Katon: Haisekishō** , enfolding several villagers in a cloud of chakra infused gunpowder which he subsequently ignited with flints placed on his teeth, producing a violent explosion that instantly killed those who are in proximity.

At this point Naruto realized that he was either hallucinating or was in a dream, though he couldn't help but feel that the bone chilling genocidal bloodbath actually transpired.

Chaos and tumult ensued. Some of the villagers tried to fight back. Using their knowledge to defend themselves and invoking the learning of their strange lore, they were able to produce effects similar to jutsus not by forming seals but from whispering and chanting in some harsh unknown language. One of the villagers engendered the very grass the shinobis were threading on to sharpen and dart violently from the ground like countless long needles, impaling their assailants; while another one unleashed bolts of living crimson lightning from his palms that crackled from foe to foe after hitting its target, charring flesh and melting armor. Seemingly, these bolts feed off the energy released by the destruction, and the lightning discharge became more furious with every fresh arc, moving as if it had a mind of its own.

Though valiantly they have fought, the villagers were simply outmatched both in numbers and military aptitude for they haven't fielded an army since the founding of their village. For all their learning, the shinobi just simply slaughtered them. Men, women, young and old, none was spared.

Naruto watched mortified as the bodies of the villagers were piled in to a single mass grave then immolated by the Konoha and Suna shinobis using their fire jutsus in a grand crematory pyre, making sure that the bodies of the villagers were completely destroyed not only so that they couldn't be used for **Edo Tensei** but also to eliminate any remaining survivors who tried to play opossum.

In the end, the village of the high plateau was burned to the ground. The precious books and scrolls on its great libraries that held its legacy, along with its people who safeguarded that legacy for hundreds of years were turned in to ashes in a single night.

Only when the shinobis were certain that none has survived did they left. Leaving charred ruins that was once a thriving community. Hours have passed and only the haunting silence of the dead and the specters of the forgotten permeated the air. Then, out of the dark forest emerged someone.

It was a teenage boy, barely able to keep himself conscious from his own injuries. By some luck or misfortune, no one knows how he survived but for some reason he did. Hobbling, he rushed to a burning hovel that was once his home but it would seem he didn't saw what he's looking for. Frantically, he limped from wreckage to wreckage, calling for his mother in a weak and tired voice, hoping that somehow she survived the onslaught.

Then, as the boy reached the town square he saw the charred remains of what was once Kaede. Slowly, and with a trembling heart he approached it, tears fell in streams from his eyes as he saw a familiar necklace half-melted and hanging from the neck of the heat blackened skeleton, confirming his greatest fears. Out of anguish and despair, and pained with the hatred for those who mercilessly slaughtered his people without provocation, the boy fell down to his knees and let out a cry of purest heartache.

Watching impotently, Naruto felt sorry for him though he also couldn't help but feel a strange feeling that he knew that boy from somewhere or sometime even though he couldn't clearly see the latter's face for it was shadowy and covered with his own blood.

After what seemed to be forever, the boy held his head up as his sobbing gave place to meditation, and finally to prayer. He stretched out his arms toward the rising sun and prayed in a tongue Naruto couldn't understand, though indeed the blonde did not try very hard to understand, since his attention was mostly taken up by the sky and the odd shapes the clouds were assuming. It was very peculiar, but as the boy uttered his petition there seemed to form overhead the shadowy, nebulous figures of exotic things; of a hybrid creature which was crowned with a metallic halo that blazed brightly with divine fire, and on the creature's back were glowing tendril like ethereal wings that fluttered menacingly in the air.

At that point Naruto saw how the light dwindled and a wall of darkness rushed from all sides, it came upon him like an overwhelming maelstrom that engulfed him in its stygian embrace. For a moment the shinobi went totally blind and couldn't see anything save infinite blackness.

Suddenly, Naruto felt as if he was forcibly dragged along with the wreck of shattered worlds in a roaring sea of vortical space and force, to descend into the gaping mouth of a black hole, into the ultimate limbo to which the shards of forgotten suns and systems were flung. Then, after a measureless interval, there came the sensation of violent impact, as if he had fallen among these shards, at the bottom of the universal night.

Slowly opening his eyes, Naruto then found himself back in his room and laying on the floor while Carlisle and Esme worriedly rushed to his side telling the blonde that they heard him scream in his sleep followed by what seemed to be a crashing sound that was apparently caused by the former as he fell out of his bed.

"I had a weird dream." Naruto said sheepishly as he apologized for causing any unnecessary disturbance. Though at the back of his head he couldn't forget that dream for it seemed so real, so lifelike, as if that dream is no dream at all but a vision, a reminder of what happened in the distant past and the spark that will ignite the wars of the near future.

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(Wedding Day – A Few Weeks Later)

Bella felt a mixed feeling of both happiness and fear. She was happy for she and Edward will finally be together, inseparable and for eternity. However, she's been getting this feeling that everything is working out too well, that there was something amiss; a catastrophe looming in the horizon that is just bidding it's time to descend upon them like lightning from a cloudless sky. She feared that when they least expect it, the Volturi will come to exact their brutal vengeance and kill them all; or perhaps Alex would sweep down out of the blue with unearthly powers and bestow to them a fate far much worse than death.

"What did I say about beauty sleep?" Alice said, as she concealed with makeup the rather unsightly puffy eye bags on Bella's face.

"Sorry…bad dream" Bella said sheepishly. "Maybe, it's just wedding jitters."

At that moment Rosalie walked in to the door. Surprisingly, she isn't in her usual sour mood but seemed happy for Bella and Edward. "Do you need some help? I can do her hair." She then offered.

"Really?" Bella said, surprised. She always thought that Rosalie hated her for some reason, though this isn't always true.

Rosalie smiled gently then walked behind Bella and helped Alice with the latter's beauty treatment. "Please. I'm not offended by your choice of groom." She then quipped as she brushed Bella's hair. It was rare indeed for her to make a light hearted joke and the two girls were seemingly surprised by it in a pleasant way.

"Just my blatant lack of respect for mortality?" Bella joked back.

"Essentially." Rosalie said smilingly that made the three girls chuckle lightly.

"Weddings! They bring everyone together!" Alice said jovially as she hugged both Bella and Rosalie in a picturesque scene.

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A little while later Naruto and Jake materialized from a thunder god formula the shinobi placed on a tree near the Cullen's abode.

"A little warning next time." Jake reproached incoherently and with wobbly legs like that of an inebriated person, feeling a vertiginous disorientation from the sudden shift of space.

"Oops sorry. Yeah, I forgot to warn you about that. Don't worry it will pass." Naruto chuckled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. Though the truth is he did it on purpose for some pay back. "Oh…the wedding's already starting. Let's go." He then continued.

"You go ahead. I'll follow." Jake responded, apparently still queasy.

"Ok then." Naruto replied. "Ahh…I almost forgot." He then continued subsequently taking a scroll from his back pocket.

"What's that?" Jake curiously queried as he saw Naruto open a long scroll filled with Japanese looking characters surrounding a spiral crest in the middle.

"You'll see." Naruto said with a jovial smile on his face as he touched the sealing formula and channeled a trickle of his chakra in to it. Suddenly a puff of smoke materialized from nowhere and as the vapors cleared away the shinobi is now in a dashing peak lapel tux.

"Nice party trick." Jake commended, apparently impressed. "But how did you do that?" He then inquired.

"Well you see the suit is stored in the scroll through….." Naruto began to explain eagerly but was seemingly distracted as he saw Leah walking towards their direction. She was wearing an elegant turquoise cocktail dress that emphasized her Junoesque contours that left the shinobi drooling. "Wow" He then muttered as he gawked at his girlfriend.

"Naruto where have you been? The wedding is about to start." Leah said to Naruto as the latter comically gaped at her. "Jake…you're here." She then greeted awkwardly as he saw Jake. She was glad to see the latter is alright but at the same time was saddened knowing his pain all too well.

"Leah" Jake greeted back casually.

"Your dad is here too. Come, seat with us." Leah then offered amicably.

"Go, I'll follow afterwards." Jake said, smiling at Leah.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Leah queried, worried.

"Yeah, he's good. He's just a bit chicken to see Bella in her wedding dress." Naruto quipped and at the same time subtly issued a challenge to Jake.

"No, It's just I feel that my innards are inside out thanks to your hir…hirain, whatever you call that teleport thing." Jake responded sarcastically with an arced brow that made Naruto shrug guiltily.

On second thought, I think it would be better if you stay here for a while to recover. It wouldn't be a pretty sight if you go barf on the red carpet while Eddie and Bella are saying their ' _I dos'_." Naruto said, chuckling sheepishly.

"We'll go ahead then." Leah, said to Jake. Though she couldn't help but feel a certain worry for him as she could relate how painful it is to see someone you love in the arms of another.

"Shall we my lady?" Naruto said suavely, offering his arms to Leah like a gentlemanly character from an old black and white movie.

 _"What's gotten in to him?"_ Leah thought as she awkwardly took Naruto's arm. "Comb your hair. It looks so puffy." She then quipped that made the shinobi a little bit conscious, running his fingers on his untamed golden mane.

"What…it looks better this way." Naruto said petulantly with a pout that made Leah snicker a bit.

"I'm just kidding. Of course it looks better that way." Leah said softly that made both Naruto and her chuckle lightheartedly as they made their way to the venue.

Looking at the couple, Jake couldn't help but feel a little jealous and imagined what if he and Bella were the ones getting married today. He could imagine what the future would be like if only she have chosen to reciprocate his love. They would have moved in a cozy little cottage and spent their lives in a simple but happy existence; they would've had kids, raise them and after a few years see their children have a family of their own. He wondered what it would be like to grow old with her, sitting together on their cottage's porch while watching their grandchildren play.

For a brief moment he found comfort on these thoughts and smiled a bit. However, the sharp thrust of reality has forcefully expelled him from that blissful daydream back to agonizing consciousness as he saw Charlie walking Bella on the aisle while Edward, and not him, is waiting for her on the altar.

Slightly bowing his head, he then accepted that he lost. The pain in his heart was indescribably intense; though, he found solace in the thought that Bella is happy and it's all that matters for him.

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Pacing slowly, Bella held to her father's arm tightly as she felt her breathing became erratic as if her heart skipped a beat. The wedding guests, all of whom have a smile on their faces, looked at her with much delight and happiness as they saw her so gorgeously clad in her wedding dress, she was indeed a very beautiful bride as she walked nervously albeit gracefully on the aisle.

As Bella raised her head she saw her friends, save Jake. There was Seth, Angela, Jessica, Eric and Mike (and also Stephenie Meyer, playing as an extra). They all have smiles of happiness on their faces particularly Mike who was apparently still completely enamored by her. Shifting her gaze, she then laid eyes on her groom, Edward, who was giving her a gentle and encouraging beam, as if the latter is telling her that she shouldn't be afraid for she's the most beautiful woman in the world.

Finally, with steady strides they've reached the altar, and Charlie relinquished her daughter to Edward, though with slight hesitance.

The rest of the ceremony went very well, Edward and Bella said their vows, their promises to love each other for the rest of their lives, then sealed their romantic protestations with a kiss that made everyone cheer, except for Charlie, who at the moment was seemingly about to cry.

At that moment Naruto sensed a presence. Putting on a pair of dark sunglasses he then inconspicuously activated his **Rinnegan** which enabled him to see the dimensionally phased entity which appeared through his greatly amplified visual prowess as a near transparent silhouette of a young man. He knows exactly who it was but decided to ignore it as if he wasn't aware of the invisible entity's presence. He knew that the latter wouldn't do any harm, and merely wanted to see a certain someone at that wedding for the last time. " _Poor guy. But I guess he deserves it."_ He then thought.

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(After Wedding Party)

Needless to say the wedding went flawlessly well. After the ceremony everyone moved to the reception. There were some awkward toasts to celebrate the newlyweds but none is more pronounced than that of Emmett and Naruto's speech regarding to the _fact_ that Bella won't be getting any sleep for a long while.

Bella, along with the Cullen's knew that it was an allusion to the latter's impending transformation to a vampire but it wasn't really difficult to imagine that Charlie interpreted it in another manner and awkwardly gulped his glass of wine to soften the blow.

Finally, the party music played and everyone soon found themselves dancing, especially Naruto and Mike who, for the second time, are having a dance showdown.

Bella was watching the blondes amusedly as the two shook their buns like crazy when suddenly she felt Edward's hands in her arms as the latter affectionately hugged her.

"I have a surprise for you." Edward whispered to her ear.

Walking past behind the Cullen's house and in to the woods Bella became curious and a bit mystified. "What's a wedding present doing out here?" She then asked her husband.

"Just a little more private." Edward smirked.

Bella was about to ask another question when she saw someone familiar.

"The best man didn't have time to get a tux." Jake said, giving Bella a big smile. His statement isn't a hundred percent true though since both Naruto and Alex offered him a 'more presentable suit' to wear earlier that day.

"Jacob!" Ecstatic, Bella ran towards Jake and hugged him. "Hey!" She then greeted the latter.

"Hey Bella." Jake said, greeting Bella back.

"This is kind of you." Edward said in a velvety voice. He was appreciative of the fact that Jake came despite their past altercations and misgivings.

"Kind is my middle name." Jake quipped.

"I'll see if Rosalie wants to dance." Edward then said as he left to give Bella and her best friend some privacy.

"I'm sorry I'm late." Jake said to Bella as he hugged her some more.

"Doesn't matter. Everything's perfect now." Bella responded, smiling.

"Will you dance with me?" Jake then said as he held Bella's hands. To this, Bella smiled and they waltzed under the wide arching canopies of red cedar trees amidst the forest's undergrowth, and they chuckled on how silly must've they looked.

"Where have you been? We were gonna put your face on a milk carton." Bella inquired. The expression on her face seemed to sadden a bit.

"Mostly northern Canada. I think. It's weird to be back on two legs again, in clothes. Gotten out of practice with the whole human thing." Jake replied. Though he made his statement sound like it was a joke the ordeal he went through was nothing to laugh at as he quite nearly lost his humanity and sanity on the process.

"Well, are you okay? Being here?" Bella asked with a little bit of guilt in her voice as he knew that she was the reason behind Jake's self-imposed solitude.

"Why? Afraid I'll trash your party?" Jake jested, assuring Bella that he's ok now. However, the smile on his face suddenly subsided as he heard the wolves in the wood with his superhuman hearing. "You're not the only one. You'd think I'd be used to telling you goodbye by now." He then continued in a solemn voice for he could no longer be friends with her after she becomes a vampire.

Hearing this and realizing the consequences of her to being with Edward, Leah couldn't help but be filled with gloom as she looked at her best friend.

"Come on, you're not supposed to be the one crying, Bella." Jake said, trying to assuage Bella's sadness.

"Everyone cries at weddings."

"This is how I'm gonna remember you. Pink cheeks. Two left feet. Heartbeat."

"Cause what, soon I'm going to be dead to you?"

"No. I'm sorry. I'm just trying to appreciate your last night as a human."

"Well, it's not my last night."

"I didn't really wanna spend my honeymoon writhing in pain."

"But what's the point? It's not like you're gonna have real honeymoon with him, anyway."

"It's gonna be as real as anyone else's.

"That's a sick joke. You are joking." At this point Jake stepped back. At first he thought that Bella is just playing a prank, however as he looked at the letter's eyes he saw how serious she was. "What? While you're still human? You can't be serious, Bella. Tell me you're not that stupid!" He then continued. Chiding Bella with a voice that was slowly intensifying with anger.

"I mean, it's really none of your business." Bella muttered defensively.

"No! You can't do this!" Jake said madly in a stentorian voice.

"Jake…" Bella said but was cut off.

"Listen to me, Bella" Jake said with both great anger and grave concern, grabbing Bella's arm and not letting her do what he think was a stupid thing that could cost her life.

"Jake let me go!" Bella exclaimed.

At that point Edward suddenly appeared and took Jake's hand off Bella. "Jacob, calm down, all right?" He then tried to appeal to the latter calmly.

"Are you out of your mind? Huh? You'll _kill_ her!" Jake remonstrated angrily. He was about to charge and clubber Edward though thankfully Seth appeared and stopped him from doing so.

At that point Sam and his pack appeared then used his alpha voice , ordering Jake to stand down and cool it; and though the latter protested that Bella might die, he simply told him that she's no longer the pack's concern.

In the end, Jake was left with no choice but to obey his alpha. With great hesitance and a lot of rage he walked away and left the worried Bella in the arms of Edward.

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(Port Angeles)

It came to pass in the midsummer of 2011, three days after Edward and Bella's wedding, a truly strange occurrence. In the interim of six days, six young women have disappeared from their homes at the dead of the night, never to be seen again. It was speculated by both the police investigating the case and by the citizens of Port Angeles alike that a serial killer is responsible for such curious disappearances.

For all the supposition and rumors of the assailant's identity and the motives for committing such a heinous act, much has been inferred but none has been proven. Night after night another victim disappears and not heard from again. People have become increasingly worried and the police are powerless to prevent the disappearances in spite of their heightened vigilance.

As if things aren't bad as it is, a number of macabre rumors started to circulate over town that only added to the perturbation of its citizen. The most bizarre of which is the story of a man named Alfred Mudge and he's supposed encounter with what he described as the snake folks.

Alfred, an unemployed middle aged man and a drunkard was generally ignored by the greater populace of Port Angeles on a day to day basis. On the 19th of August however, as he recounted, he passed out one afternoon about sundown behind a dumpster after quaffing too much liquor. It was already in the hour of the wolf when he returned to his senses but as he was about to leave he beheld a young woman walking stiffly like a somnambulist, she had a rather strange expression on her face and a blank stare as if she's a soulless puppet being controlled by invisible strings. He tried to call the girl's attention but it was of no use, she continued pacing in to the direction of the sea. Worried, he followed her but what happened next was horror beyond imagining.

At the pier, he saw emerging from the waters a number of horrific looking creatures which he had described as the snake folks. Pausing for an interim as if catching his mental breath, Alfred then described the countenance of these warp and twisted beings. They appeared to be serpent-like humanoids rearing at around nine to ten feet in height. They were bestial and are thickly built, having four muscular limbs on their vaguely humanoid upper bodies and their torsos was merged into a serpentine hind section that they used to slither on the ground and swim under water. Their bodies are covered with scales that are both large and thick like carapace or armor ; and their heads were like that of dragons, having four faintly glowing eyes on each side and mouths full of ferocious dagger like teeth.

One of these snake folks extended its hand, and obediently the girl walked towards the creature as if she's under an inescapable hypnotic trance, as if her brain was seemingly drugged by baleful magics that made her mind soft and pliable. Moments later, it would seem that these creatures have been made aware of Alfred's presence. Sniffing audibly, they then collectively turned their eyes to where he was hiding. Whether the creatures would have fled, or whether they meant to assail him, he do not know; for he could bear the sight no longer and ran with adrenaline charged swiftness despite his trembling limbs and never looked back until he was absolutely certain that he was out of harm's way.

As was to be expected with such a seemingly farfetched tale, Alfred Mudge's story was met with ridicule, disbelief and consternation. And indeed, at one point, he was closely questioned by the authorities; viewing him as a suspect and possible scapegoat by the increasingly desperate and humiliated police force who up until now has no lead to the case. In the end however, they have concluded that his supposed encounter was just a preposterous hallucination by a drunken man on welfare, and so they have no choice but to release him.

Naruto however, who was disguised as one of the interrogators using transformation jutsu, was convinced that Alfred was telling the truth and so he decided to investigate further.

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The next night Naruto wasted no time, making sure to conduct a strict vigil of Port Angeles with the aide of his shadow clones. Hour after hour he kept his eyes peeled for any suspicious activities, but there was nothing save silence.

Slowly the night has ebbed and the moon grew grey. It was already between night and dawn but there wasn't anything amiss. All was mortally still, and he saw no movement, apart from the slow changing of the light and shade.

Then as Naruto was about to call it a day he suddenly felt a lurking presence not far from his position. Folding his hands in to seals he then casted **Tōton Jutsu** , rendering him transparent and invisible.

In this mode he planned to observe and, if everything went as planned, apprehend the perpetrator. To his surprise however when he saw Leah; the latter was in her wolf form and seemingly stalking someone.

"Leah?" Naruto said, confused.

To this, Leah immediately swung her head to the blonde's direction but her enhanced senses couldn't perceive anything since not only did Naruto made himself impalpable by sight but has also took great care to hide his scent that would otherwise reveal his presence to the enemy.

"Oh, sorry…right here Leah." Naruto said sheepishly, deactivating his jutsu. "Hey, wait a minute…what are you doing here?" He then inquired suspiciously in a comedic manner.

Changing back in to her human form Leah then answered. "Well...I was just passing by." She said in an elongated cadence.

 _"Wow that is the most used up excuse in the book ya' know."_ Naruto thought with a deadpan expression on his face while giving Leah an incredulous look. "Come on, cough it up." He then continued as he crossed his arms and tapped his foot.

"Well….I just a felt a bit nostalgic of my shinobi days so…I decided to, you know…." Fidgeting, Leah answered awkwardly, trying hard to think of a good premise but was cutoff.

"You're stalking me aren't you? Naruto said in a sere and sad voice. "Cause you think I'm cheating on you?"

"Yes" Leah sighed, shamefaced. "But can you blame me? The way you flirt at that harlot Jessica Stanley during Bella's wedding makes me want to smack you both!" She then retorted, unleashing her bottled up rage and suspicion at the blonde.

"What do you mean flirt? I was just talking to her ya' know." Naruto replied defensively.

"Oh yeah? Then why are you so defensive about it?" Leah roared in a challenging tone.

"I don't know, because I felt I was being attacked!" Naruto said as he shrugged while his brow contacted in to a single line above the offended expression on his face.

"Oh I doubt that. You feel guilty that's why." Leah smirked scornfully.

"Guilty of what!" Naruto exclaimed, stepping closer to her.

"Guilty of being a lying, unfaithful douche bag that's what!" Leah retorted as she also stepped forward and looked Naruto in the eye.

"Cheating on you? In here…in this place? Jeez Leah, what kind of pervert you take me for to be doing my dirty business in a place like this and in such an ungodly hour." Naruto replied sarcastically, though the sadness and pain of being distrusted by the one he loves intermingled on his voice as he spoke.

"Cut the crap Naruto!" Leah exclaimed, the indignation visibly rise to her face as he glared at the blonde.

"Leah, I would die before I hurt you." Naruto said as he looked at her with teary eyes. The way he said it was so genuine, so sincere that Leah can't help but feel a little bit ashamed for her accusation as the blonde's words smote straight through her heart.

"Tell me…tell me you didn't cheat on me." Leah said in a much calmer and affectionate voice. At that point she already knew that Naruto has been nothing but completely faithful to her but nonetheless she wanted to hear the words straight from the shinobi's lips.

"I have waited ten thousand years just to see you. I could never cheat on you Leah." Naruto said with a gentle smile on his face as he affectionately looked Leah in the eye and kissed her ardently.

"I believe you." Leah whispered to the blonde then kissed him back.

All was seemingly going well when something interrupted Naruto's many assurances and protestations of love to Leah. Out of the blue, they saw a young woman walking stiffly in to the direction of the sea, the expression on her face is as what Alfred Mudge has described; blank and with a distant stare as if she was under some baleful enchantment that has compelled her to rise in the dead of the night from her bed and walk unheedingly towards the vile power who casted the dark spell.

Folding his hands in to seals Naruto once again casted **Tōton Jutsu,** though this time he expanded the jutsu's radius to encompass Lea in a shroud of invisibility.

"What's happening?" Leah queried, confused.

"Sssh…..keep your voice down Leah." Naruto said in a low and soft voice. "This is the reason why I'm here. These past few days a number of girls have gone missing. A witness told me that he saw one of the girls sleep walk in to this direction before she disappeared." He then explained to Leah, omitting the part of the snake people since it is yet to be proven and because he feared how the latter would react hearing such a weird thing.

"That is so….wierd" Leah muttered as she shifted her gaze back to the nightwalker.

It wasn't long before five creatures emerged from the harbor. Four of which were the snake folks from Alfred Mudge's story and are wielding trident like swords; the other one however, who appears to be the leader, was a different albeit more terrifying creature altogether. Superficially it is more anthropoid than its peers, being bipedal, but the humanoid features ends there for it is completely alien when viewed in a mortal's perspective. Squinty pale white eyes glowed rather brightly in its octopus-like head. On its face were six rubbery tentacle-like feelers that seemingly writhed autonomously from each other and hid a lamprey like mouth; while its purplish-blue skin was covered in a mucus- like substance that oozed abundantly, leaving a trail of slime from where it threaded; and surrounding its body was an aura of cold, so numbing that it draws life from the living.

"What the hell are those things?" Leah muttered to herself involuntarily, seeing the sheer strangeness of these abominations.

To this, Naruto remained silent but observed the strange beings more rigorously. It would seem that the serpentine creatures communicate with each other in deep hissing screeches while their leader seemingly doesn't speak at all but communicated in what would seem an extra-sensory manner.

Suddenly, the creatures seemed to have been alerted to the onlookers as Leah paced back out of abhorrence and carelessly knocked the lid of a nearby trash can, making a loud metallic clang as it dropped on the concrete floor.

The snake folks screeched frantically. They then dipped their heads and lunched a volley of serrated spines hidden under their movable upper carapace plates. These spines traveled at near hypersonic speeds and had sufficient power to penetrate the armor of the most advanced military tanks, impacting violently as they buried or outright blasted their way out of the concrete structures and metal assemblies of the port as Naruto and Leah evaded them.

Fortunately both Naruto and Leah were nimble enough to avoid the incoming projectiles and suffered no grievous injuries, save one shallow wound on the latter's arm from a glancing spine.

"You ok Leah?" Naruto inquired, looking at the graze on Leah's arm but not letting his guard down.

"I'll live." Leah quipped that made Naruto smile as she phased in to her wolf form.

"Who are you?" The cephalophoid creature inquired in an astute but stern voice. When compared to its peers who are bestial and has a more warrior like mentality, it would seem that it is highly intelligent and far calmer though proud to a certain degree and view the humans as primitive apes with no value save being sacrificial animals.

"I am the sheriff of this town. Mind to explain what the hell you think you're doing before I turn you guys in to sushi." Naruto replied exuberantly but wary not to underestimate the enemy. At this point Naruto was certain that the abominable creature was telepathic as it spoke very clearly without moving its lamprey like mouth.

 _"Wow that's the cheesiest line I've ever heard."_ Leah thought with a deadpan expression on his face.

"I am Xn'gax . We are the children of the great Cthulhu, and your gods are less to us than the weeds that grow on your kitchen-middens. Your flesh and soul, along with those of the previous humans we collected shall serve as tribute to honor the great one's awakening." Xn'gax said telepathically and proceeded to blast the shinobi with a fast expanding psionic shockwave that it emitted from its eyes, subsequently he then bided his serpentine servants to assail the latter.

The shockwave of psychic energy knocked Leah outright in to unconsciousness but its effects were less potent to Naruto, only suffering from slight vertiginous befuddlement of which he was quickly able to recover.

"Okay, no more Mr. Nice guy!" Naruto exclaimed, cracking his fists as he conjured his shadow clones. He then commanded one of the clones to bring Leah to safety while the others prepared to battle the charging snake folks and the overgrown octopus that is their master.

Subsequently, rippled patterns then appeared from his faintly glowing purple eyes and a golden shroud of chakra engulfed his body.

"Alright! We're going to kill someone!" Shukaku exclaimed with much excitement and sadistic delight.

"Stop fooling around" Kurama chided, reminding the tanuki to focus on the battle.

" **Shinra Tensei**!" Naruto exclaimed as he manipulated repulsive forces with his Rinnegan and blasted the snakefolks back, violently crushing their bones beneath their armored flesh.

He then bided his shadow-clones to attack Xn'gax. Two of the clones weaved seals while the other threw a volley of kunais which exploded as they reached sufficient proximity, covering the area in thick black smoke screen which the two former clones used as a cover to unleash their synchronized jutsus.

" **Katon: Ensakkai** " The first clone exclaimed as he jumped high in the air and consecutively spews three large orbs of flames that darted themselves in to the epicenter of the smoke screen.

" **Fūton: Shinkūjin** " The other clone said as he exhaled wind infused chakra in to his shurikens turning them in to violently spinning blades of wind with immense cutting power and lethality that he unleashed upon Xn'gax.

As the two latter jutsus met, their chakra elements reacted to one another and greatly amplified each other's potency, generating a massive firestorm that engulfed a large area in a vortex of searing flames that seemingly incinerated the target in to crisps.

To Naruto's surprise however when Xn'gax walked out of the wreckage unscathed. All around the latter was an aura that shimmered like rippling water exposed to a beam of light. It would seem that through his vast psionic powers the child of Cthulhu telekinetically generated an interwoven psi charged barrier that protected him by defusing any damaging force that Naruto's technique would've inflicted.

"Not bad. Now behold my power." Xn'gax said coldly as he charged up a spell and shot it directly to Naruto and his clones. Geysers of malign energy then erupted from beneath their feet so fast that only the original was able to escape; the clones however were consumed by the chaotic forces of the now swirling energies and was brutally dispelled, leaving only puffs of smoke. The collateral damage caused by the attack was quite immense as half of the pier was leveled and was set ablaze with demonic fires from the underworld.

With a **Rasengan** on one hand Naruto decided that it's time to bring out the big guns as he calculatingly eyed his opponent, scanning for any possible weakness or vulnerability. "Gotcha!" He said with a smile on his face, seeing what he's looking for. He then channeled and infused a well calibrated combination of wind and lava release chakra on the swirling orb of destruction on his palm, causing it to transcend the limits of its current state and transmute in to a higher form of the technique. Screeching blades of searing heat manifested itself from the nucleus, which by itself looked like a sizable sphere of blazing inferno.

" **Sage Art: Lava Release Rasenshuriken**!" Naruto exclaimed as he leaped high on the ground and hurled the scorching vortex. To his surprise however when he saw the casual and unworried expression on Xn'gax face as the latter calmly stretched out his arm and from the palm of his claw-like hand manifested a circle of power comprised of strange glyphs and pre-human runes. From the centermost of the circle then immediately formed a small event horizon that not only easily swallowed the shinobi's technique like a star being devoured by a black hole but also sucked everything in the immediate vicinity be it heavy boulders, large metallic debris and even the derelict ships on the harbor.

"Is that all you got….how disappointing." Xn'gax bragged with an evil and insulting cachinnation while energy bullets charged from his hand which he then subsequently shot at Naruto in consecutive bursts.

Charging head on, Naruto easily evaded the whistling energy projectiles with preternatural nimbleness and agility. _"Damn, this bastard is good!"_ He thought as he decided to utilize the totality of his strength as a means to combat his opponent and quickly end the battle. His cloak of golden chakra formed into a light-colored coat with a dark-colored 'bodysuit' underneath that covers his torso, reaching down his arms to the knuckles, and down his legs, stopping just above his shoes, which also changed color. He also had a light-colored circle where his seal was placed, as well as golden magatama markings around his collar. The coat has the typical markings of the **Six Paths Senjutsu** : a **Rinnegan** above nine magatama, on its back. Also truth seeking balls of malleable black chakra formed and floated behind the shinobi.

"What are you?" Xn'gax muttered in awe while his bragging was abruptly silenced after seeing the shinobi in his glorious **Six Path Sage Mode** form.

Naruto then formed an immense battle avatar that resembled a full bodied Kurama with six arms. "But not good enough!" He exclaimed as he punched Xn'gax with one of his battle avatar's gigantic fists, causing the latter to be forcefully hurled high in to the air.

Feeling his own imminent destruction as he tumbled violently in to the air Xn'gax manifested a pair of dragon-like wings and tried to flee like a coward but to his surprise when he felt a crawling paralysis spread throughout his body with dreadful rapidity. In truth Naruto struck the latter with **Sage Art: Magnet Release Rasengan** as he punched him earlier with his battle avatar. Soon, cursed marks spread quickly on the cephalopoid's body that totally immobilized him.

"Imp…ossible" Xn'gax mumbled, dumbfounded and can't believe that a mere human has just beaten him.

"Kiss your ass goodbye Squidward!" Naruto exclaimed as he disabled his battle avatar. Converting his truth seeking balls in to tailed beast balls and adding wind nature chakra to them, he then formed six spinning **Tailed Beast Ball Rasenshuriken** which he subsequently unleashed at Xn'gax who at that moment, was catapulted high in to the sky.

However, just mere moments before the his jutsu was about to connect everything went in to a dripping stillness like a movie that was paused on its climax, as if the very flow of time itself stopped on its tracks and Naruto felt a spectral change in the air accompanied by an ere feeling, as if the laws of earth were bowing to greater laws.

"What's happening?" Naruto bewilderingly muttered, seeing Xn'gax floating, motionless in to the air while the **Tailed Beast Ball Rasenshurikens** are just a few millimeters from impacting, the expression on the latter's countenance was that of a person who can't believe he's about to perish.

"Greetings young assassin." Said an eerie echoing voice in a stony and sonorous accent that echoed in to the time stilled landscape with a sepulchral reverberation. The voice seemed to belong to an astute but incomputably old scholar who preceded the formation and destruction of countless universes.

"Who's there!" Naruto exclaimed as he perused the voice's origins, not letting his guard down.

Turning around the shinobi then saw a strange entity standing behind him that appears like a silhouette of a man heavily cloaked in a strange and shimmering veil, with no organs or features discernible beneath the garb. On its waist was a girdle made of linked iron and from it hanged a single intricately crafted silver key.

"Who are you?" Naruto inquired in a suspicious tone but the entity didn't vouchsafe any utterance. "What the hell are you!" The shinobi queried again but this time in a stentorian and enraged voice.

"I know the gate. I am the gate. I am the key and guardian of the gate. Past, present, future, all are one in me. I am the father of the one you ignobly slayed in his sleep just after he offered you his friendship." The entity replied coldly in the same eerie echoing voice that seemed to curdle the blood and froze the soul of the shinobi.

"Yog-Sothoth" Naruto muttered loosely with quivering lips. It would seem that all his courage has converted itself in to existential fear and insanity as he feebly stood in the presence of the omniscient outer-god. "Is this your doing." Regaining some of his composure he then inquired in a low voice regarding the abductions and the children of Cthulhu.

"No…..it is yours." Yog-Sothoth replied that dazed Naruto and made him ponderingly taciturn. "Your actions have engendered a series of events that will ultimately cause the destruction of mankind. You shall bear the pain of seeing those you love destroyed before your very eyes and those you have sworn to protect will die cursing your name. In the end you alone shall survive and will walk alone on the barren soil of a dead world for eternity." He then continued, foreseeing a grim and dark future with a cold indifference in his voice as he spoke.

"What do you mean…I don't understand?" Bewildered, Naruto demanded an explanation for the mystifying oracle of the multiversal deity.

"Listen well young one. If you choose death and destruction... then death and destruction will choose you." Yog-Sothoth uttered an even more cryptic reply before he disappeared in a bright flash of silvery light.

At that point, time once again flowed like a frozen river thawed by the onset of spring. The **Tailed Beast Ball Rasenshurikens** impacted Xn'gax who wailed in a shrill inhuman screech just before he expired. A massive explosion then ensued, followed by a blinding light that was brighter than the sun and blanketed all that is below, closely shadowed by a thunderous explosion and a powerful pressure wave that shattered the glass windows of the buildings below and set off the alarms of the cars parked nearby as it passed.

Though undeniably victorious, Naruto can't help but get an off feeling from the revelations of Yog-Sothoth. The outer-god could've easily destroyed him if it wished but instead decided to impart such a terrible knowledge that is undoubtedly far worse than being killed a thousand times in battle.

"Naruto!"Leah called the shinobi that has distracted him for a while from his pondering.

Still in his **Six Path Sage Mode** Naruto then flew to the Quileute. "You ok Leah?" He then inquired.

"Im fine." Leah replied, smiling.

"Let's take you home then." Naruto chuckled lightheartedly, glad to see that his girlfriend was alright. He then formed a seal of confrontation with his right hand and cast a wide area effect genjutsu that altered the perceptions of everyone in Port Angeles, making them think that the chaos ensuing from the pier was from a fuel explosion due to a terrible accident.

Naruto was about to **Hiraishin** Leah and himself out of the pier when he noticed the latter look at him with a raised brow. "What?" He then inquired, bewildered and a bit scared, thinking of the reason why she suddenly assumed such a mood.

"You're not thinking of teleporting me again aren't you? Last time you did that I felt sick for an entire week Naruto, an entire week!" Leah said sneeringly, placing her hands on her hips as she gave the shinobi an irritated look.

"Jeez what do you want me to do Leah? My car got sucked by that black hole thing earlier." Naruto shrugged.

"Hmmm….you can fly right." Leah hummed then smiled with a crooked grin.

"No problem" Naruto chuckled with two thumbs up as if he read what's in Leah's mind.

Out of sudden however, Leah felt his heart tremble then gradually slowed; she felt weak and cold, very cold. Her vision blurred and she felt queasy. It wasn't long before she lost consciousness and collapsed.

"Leah what's happening….Leah!" Naruto exclaimed as he coughed Leah in his arms.

It would seem that the spine that grazed Leah earlier contained a highly potent venom that rushed in to her blood stream and slowly gripped her heart and stop it from beating.

"Come on Leah, snap out of it." Naruto said frantically as he held Leah in his arms and felt that she no longer has a pulse. He then remembered the outer-god's oracle and feared that he would lose her. "Oh no you don't…you're not gon'na die, not on my watch." Gathering all his faculties the shinobi reinterred in to **Six Path Sage Mode** and started channeling massive amounts of chakra to his girlfriend, hoping to save her.

It was of no use however for Leah is quite clearly dead. Seeing this, Naruto hugged her ardently as tears flowed from his face like two parallel streams and dripped in to the latter's eyes who were closed forever by the passing of the grim reaper. 'Leah….no" The blonde then sobbed despondently.

Then suddenly, after a moment of crushing despair, Naruto felt something. It was a heartbeat. Seeing that her beloved is alive the shinobi felt an unexplainable happiness not to mention relief.

To his surprise, however, when Leah opened her eyes. The brown pupils on Leah's eyes were gone, and in lieu were the enlarged and featureless white irides of the **Byakugan**. Then the white suddenly ebbed and was once again emerged the brown orbs of the shape-shifter before she passed out once more.

 **-End**

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 **Hey there folks!**

 **It has certainly been a long time. I hope you awesome people are doing well and I hope you guys enjoyed reading.**

 **Gotcha didn't I, don't worry Leah's going to be alright….oh and to those who are wondering why she has the Byakugan, it's because she's Hinata's incarnate and introducing massive amounts of Naruto's chakra back in to her body has revitalized her chakra circulatory system and consequently reawakened her bloodline Dōjutsu. Also, I did leave a few clues in this chapter. You may have noticed them. As the story progresses I will expound on these clues.**

 **Anyways, at the moment I'm currently working on Edward and Bella's honeymoon scene, and I am having a bit of dilemma on how it should go. So, I am going to ask you my dear readers if you want the honeymoon scene to be more family friendly or would you rather prefer it to be "lemony".**

 **Thank you all for the support and all the awesome inputs. As always, any comment and or suggestion that will help improve the story as a whole is much appreciated. Please share them on the comment section since I wouldn't be able to check my PM inbox often these following days.**

 **Cheerio :)**


	23. Chapter 23: The Enemies

(New Orleans - Louisiana)

It was in the dead of the night, in the dark alleys of Tarpon St. frantically galloped a man desperately trying to elude a looming dark shadow. He was a tall muscular and powerful man by the name of DeAndre Brett, a common alley thug.

Being the cutthroat that he is, DeAndre made a living in the shady backstreets of New Orleans by mugging tourists and locals alike. Besides the obvious criminality of his occupation he has also raped and killed on numerous occasions, and felt no remorse of what he did nor fear of the law for he was able to elude its grip up until now.

Earlier that evening, on a particularly mist blanketed and starless summer night he saw a man sauntering in his territory, seemingly unaware of the dangers of walking alone in the back alleys of the tourist trap city that is New Orleans.

DeAndre noticed that there was something strange with this man as he walked so gracefully as if he was gliding on the concrete ground; he has chin long black hair, white skin that was like bleached bone, brilliant green eyes and glossy quartz like finger nails that seemingly have a light of their own as they reflected the light from a nearby post lamp. He was clad in a plain but classically stylish black Armani suit and has a ruby clip holding his tie in place which was also black and in the same hue as his suit.

Thinking that it was just another clueless foreign tourist and with greed outpacing his better senses, and foolishly assuming that the latter was easy picking DeAndre draw a revolver from his waistband. Declaring a stick-up in a haughty tone of a violent criminal he flashed the business end of his gun to the man and threatened to blow his brains out if the latter doesn't start handing out all the valuables in his possession, starting with his wallet and the blood-red ruby clip on his necktie.

Seemingly void of fear or self-preservation, the man slowly turned his gaze to the thug with his green eyes that were bleak as ice and were like a pair of iridescent emeralds. Abruptly, a deep fear crept inside of DeAndre and the barrel of his revolver quivered from the uncontrollable shaking of his hand.

DeAndre's finger tightened on the trigger and a shot was fired but the man in front of him disappeared as if he wasn't there on the first place. Flabbergasted, the thug fearfully turned his gaze from side to side and pointed his gun ungainly in all directions while cursing in even hoarser maledictions thinking that he saw a ghost.

"You chose the wrong person to rob." A voice said. It was deep and resonating but nonetheless has an entrancing melody to it that was strong and sweet.

DeAndre turned his head sharply only to see that it was that man again, and this time he was looking at him with those piercing inhuman eyes. "What the hell are you?" He then inquired fearfully, his lips quivering as he spoke in a breathy voice.

The man didn't utter a word but once again vanished only to reappear in front of his face. Couldn't take the horror any longer, DeAndre fled with all the speed he could muster, occasionally firing his gun blindly until he ran out of bullets in hopes that it will somehow slowdown his dark pursuer just enough for him to reach safety.

Finally, DeAndre saw the coruscating neon sign of the Lafayette Club just ahead. The said bar is frequented by both locals and tourists and even in such an ungodly hour he knew that there were plenty of people inside and that he would be safe from whatever inhuman monster shadowing him, if only he could make it in to its sanctuary before the pursuer could catch up.

Pumped with adrenaline he then sprinted faster than he ever had in a last ditch effort to try and stay alive. Slowly, sanctuary became nearer and nearer but just mere moments before he was about to pass its threshold a cold hand grabbed his neck from a dark corner and slammed his body in to the cold and damp back alley wall. To his horror it was the pale man he was trying to desperately flee from.

There was no sign of malignity in the expression on the man's face but only cold indifference, like a person who had lived for centuries and was blasé and inured to the sight of death. His mouth opened. There came two tiny sharp teeth, like daggers unto themselves, as he bit down into DeAndre's throat. At first the thug struggled and cursed but only for an instance; he froze almost immediately as the former's fangs sunk in to his artery.

There was a low wet sound, it was barely audible but horribly suggestive of the flow of something, and that something was DeAndre's blood. The man then pressed himself ever more closely to his victim, his plainly visible white fingers coaxing the life fluid from the dying body, as he gave off a long sweet savoring sigh.

After an interim DeAndre's body shuddered all over, as if he has gone in to a final convulsion before he dropped in to the ground motionless. At that point his heart stopped beating and he gave up his unclean life.

As the warm blood of the thug coursed in to his system, the strange pallor on the man's face ebbed and was replaced with a florid gleam that one could now make out the vivid flush of his cheeks and the ruddy glister of his lips.

Suddenly the man turned his head sharply and threw his glare on the darker parts of the alley way, sensing a presence he hasn't sensed for years. "I know it's you. Show yourself Lestat." He then said tranquilly but with a certain cautiousness interlacing the sweetness of his voice.

From the shadows Lestat revealed himself, clapping his hands amusedly. "Louis. It's certainly nice to see that your taste has now evolved from rats and poodles." He then teased in a coquettish tone.

"It has been a while." Louis Pointe du Lac responded, greeting the other vampire but remaining wary of him. "How did you find me?" He then inquired.

"Oh, Louis." Lestat said breathily as he moved to him ever so closer without seeming to take any steps. "I am your creator, am I not? I can always sense were you are." He then continued playfully as with unfathomable speed he appeared behind Louis's back and caressed his shoulders then curled his fingers on the locks of his hair.

"What do you want Lestat?" Louis said bluntly as he moved away from him.

"Is that how you treat an old friend?" Lestat said sarcastically with a rather cheeky smile on his face. "Dear god, manners seems not to matter these days." He quipped, looking back at Louis with a sharper sensuality on his gaze.

"God? When did you start to believe in him?" Louis smirked amusedly. Of the entire thing Lestat said, the phrase pertaining to the higher power caught his attention more than any other.

"I never really believed in the divinity, in heaven or hell…you know that…however, that was until I saw them with my own eyes." Lestat said in a solemn voice as if recalling the sublime experience as he spoke.

"What?" Louis smirked again and looked at Lestat as if asking silently with his eyes if he's serious.

"I and Armand are currently serving a god….well, technically a demi-god. It's complicated." Lestat said persuasively as he once again hovered near Louis.

"Armand?" Louis said in a tone that was more amused than surprised. "You two get along now?"

"He tries too hard to act so mature now but he's still the brat you knew him to be….not to mention he's still a sociopath." Lestat answered in an uninterested tone, not wanting to talk about his associate.

"I could imagine." Louis said sarcastically. _"It's like he just described himself rather than answer my question."_ He then thought.

"I heard that." Lestat said in a sere voice while a line formed over his forehead, a little bit irked at the thought.

"Why did you really come here Lestat?" Louis inquired in a gentle but serious voice, demanding to know Lestat's purpose.

"Our master is more than willing to share his power and protection to you. All you have to do is accept it." Lestat proposed in an eloquent voice. However, seeing that Louis isn't that impressed he paced closer and leaned on to his ear. "In time when my master grew strong enough you may even ask him to bring Claudia back to your arms. It is what you want, isn't it Louis?" He then whispered to the latter in a low but singularly penetrating murmur.

"What sick joke is this?" He then sneered, outraged.

"No joke. I assure you." Lestat smiled.

The statement stirred the long dead embers within Louis's soul, for a moment hope filled his heart. The image of Claudia flashed unceasingly inside his head and her sweet voice of rippling silver echoed so long in his memory, he yearned to see her once more. But somehow as his gaze fell into Lestat's face there grew a tiny doubt; a doubt no less absurd than intolerable, but nevertheless insistent.

After a while his pondering became searching and exigent and cruel, and though he yearned to see Claudia once again he speculated that the price of doing so must be quite terrible that the thought became less and less appealing, and indeed quite repugnant.

"Well? What do you say?" Lestat said, extending his hand.

Suddenly, Louis burst out in to anger. Grabbing Lestat by the lapel of his red velvet coat he then slammed him forcibly in to the ground and then in to the wall. "Spare me with your deception!" he then exclaimed but was a bit dazed to see that the latter found this all too laughable and broke in to a maniacal sniggering.

Irked and unable to take it any longer Louis flung Lestat to a nearby heap of cardboard boxes then with vampiric speeds fled from the scene.

Sobering up a little, Lestat gracefully got up his feet and saw a long tailed gray rat pass by his shoes. With his enhanced speed and agility he casually caught it, picking up the animal from the ground on its back, then he started to pet it. "Ah Louis….Louis, Louis, Louis…my sweet Louis. In time you yourself will come to us." He said somewhat playfully as he smiled with his fanged teeth and reflective blue eyes shining in the dark alley like ivory and sapphires touched by the gentle light of the moon.

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(Volterra – Italy)

It has been a few weeks since the Volturi sojourned to the wet town of Forks. Caius was still incensed about their failed attempt to forge an alliance that would have successfully toppled the threat posed by Naruto and the Cullens to their hegemony of both the mortal and the immortal world; while Aro on the other hand remained calm and composed, having a more cunning as well as a long term mindset. He knew that such short-term defeats and missteps is but a link in a chain of events that if he plays his gambit right would ultimately enable him to achieve his dark goal, in his own time.

While her masters fumed and scheme Jane can't help but wonder. For quite some time now she has been thinking of the events that took place during their last mission, about that strange boy, she didn't even caught his name but for some reason the image of his countenance kept flashing inside her head and the moment of their first meeting played in her memory over and over again. She felt a little bit timid and embarrassed as she recalled that peculiar sensation when she first saw the blue-eyed demigod, she felt as if she was having an orgasm by just looking at him.

Running her fingers on the crimson gem hanging on her neck Jane recalled how the trinket not only sustains her but also, in a degree, shielded her from Aro when he tried to use his gift to probe her mind; though the latter saw what she saw he wasn't able to sense the emotions she felt.

" _Why did he gave this to me?"_ She then thought as she musingly leaned on a pillar, making sure that no one is around to see her in such a pensive state.

"Jane" Called a familiar voice that made her look back and saw it was her twin brother.

"Alec?" How long have you been standing there?" Caught off guard, Jane inquired awkwardly.

"Not too long." Alec replied with an awkward cadence in his voice while he gave Jane a weird look. "Is there a problem?" He then inquired, albeit hesitantly. For quite some time now he had noticed his twin sister acting very strange as if something is bothering her; stranger still, during this interim he haven't seen her feed at all though he speculated that she must've been hunting outside of Volterra given the fact that her eyes remained a burgundy red, and this may also explain why she's been frequently sojourning out of the coven's walls lately.

"Yes." Jane smiled. Besides her brother no one have really seen her smile except for the sadistic grin she sports when ordered by her masters to use her gift on those who came under the cloud of their frown.

"Heidi has brought a fresh batch of humans. Do you want me to save you a snack for later?" Alec said in hopes of cheering Jane up.

"No. I'm good." Jane replied, giving Alec another gentle smile, deciding to move somewhere more private to continue her musings.

"Okay?" Alec mumbled in a faint voice, dazed and a bit worried as he watched her sister walk away.

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A few miles from Volterra, in a secluded forest rarely visited by tourist and locals alike is where Jane decided to spend the day. Under the wide canopy of a lush ancient tree that stood high in the epicenter of that forest long before the founding of Christianity is where she continued her musings. At that moment she wasn't the cold hearted Volturi guard that was feared by all but just an ordinary girl who was becoming weary of the thought of spending her immortal life enforcing the ironclad will of her masters and punishing those who dared cross their path; for a moment she wondered what it's like to find a mate of her own and spend the rest of her days in his arms, she felt that she was living a hollow existence and wondered what it was like to be complete.

Suddenly, she heard the rustling of leaves from a nearby bush indicating that someone or something is nearby. Rearing up like a cautious viper she then prepared to rip the head of the fool who dared intrude the sanctity of her solitude.

The rustling suddenly stopped. Carefully, she perused the shrub only to find a fat hare with one foot stuck on the low decussating branches of the plant. Indignant at the furry leporid who caused her needless apprehension Jane decided to punish it severely by using her gift on the hapless creature. The hare squealed and squirmed in pain as if it was being burned alive until finally its heart gave up and died an unpleasant death.

"Serve you right." She then murmured with a wide sadistic smirk. However, the smile on his face abruptly ceased as she noticed a shadow had fallen beside hers.

"Jeez. Can't you have taken it easy on the little guy?" A familiar pleasantly melodic voice said that has startled her. The said voice was soothing to the ear but sounded somewhat eerie and echoing as if it's owner was some kind of elemental speaking to her by vibrating the surrounding air.

Warily but not without composure Jane turned around to peruse the voice's origins. However, her eyes widened as she saw how the air slowly took the form of a semi-transparent ambiguous figure that was like molded mist. Then with a bright flash of light she beheld as that strange boy from Forks materialized before her.

"You…." Startled and bewildered, Jane hissed in a suspicious cadence.

The young man however didn't vouchsafe any utterance. Instead he walked calmly past her with a gentle expression on his face. Stooping down on to the bushes he freed the lifeless hare then placed his hand on to its chest and began to rechannel life energies back to the creature.

Jane's eyes widened as she saw how the air was permeated with wisps of silvery ethereal light then before she knew it the hare, it would seem, came back to life.

"There you go buddy." The young man said in a gentle and mellow flowing voice as he placed the hare back to the ground and release it. Spryer than it was ever before the leporid sprung away and retreated to its borrow.

"How did you do that?" Jane inquired in pondering wonderment, albeit with great hesitation.

"Life and death are not the fixed conditions that people commonly believed them to be. The two realms were often intermingled in ways not readily discerned. Due to the nature of my heritage it is possible for me to summon a spirit from the never ending shadows of the cryptic tomb and bring it back to the world of the living, and restore it as it was before touched by death…..however, at the moment my powers and my knowledge is still at its infancy and thus I could only bring back lesser beings such as this hare. If I try to resurrect a person death will take me in return." He then explained calmly in the same melodic voice. "Now that I have answered your question you must answer mine…..what transgression did it committed to warrant such a painful death?" He then continued.

"It angered me." Jane replied in a cold and indifferent tone, looking away from the young man.

"Ahh" Alex said impartially, though Jane felt a smidge of sarcasm as the young man looked at her with those hypnotic orbs of sapphire blue that was intensified by the phantom light of the now setting sun.

"What?" Jane said with crossed arms, a bit irritated though for some reason she couldn't bring herself to get mad at him, she hated it but at the same time felt inexplicably happy. "Hey, wait a minute. How long have you been here?" She then inquired with an arced brow, trading back with a suspicious unblinking stare.

"A while." The young man said honestly with a boyish smile. "Though in my defense I was here first."

"Have you thought of our proposal? Have you come here to form an alliance with us?" Regaining her confidence Jane queried astutely with a cold and calculating acuity.

"I'm afraid not." He replied casually.

" _I must somehow find a way to inform Aro that he's here."_ Jane thought while maintaining an inconspicuous façade.

"I'll just hide again." Alex said as if he read her mind

"What do you want then?" Jane sneered. Thinking that the young man came to do her harm she quickly shifted in to a more aggressive mode as her strong self-preservation instincts kicked in. Immediately one could notice the signs of alarm in his fidgeting or gestures such as how the flesh quivered around her eyes. Her nerves fired faster, sending signals to the rest of her body to be wary. "What do you want?!" She then roared as she prepared to defend herself.

"I just want to talk." He said calmly in an ever so gentle voice and in a manner that was pleasant and appealing. "But I could leave if that is what you want." He then continued in a bit of dejection, slowly fading away, becoming more transparent and intangible as moments passed.

Hearing this, Jane's wrath slowly died out and ebbed like tide retreating from a shore and in to the sea. "Wait!" She yelped in a semi-involuntary cry. "You're not here to kill me?" She then inquired, a bit relieved but nonetheless quite cautious.

"No. I promise." The young man said with a gentle smile on his face as his form once again became solid and palpable.

"Can I at least know your name?" Jane then asked diffidently.

"It's Alexander, but I prefer Alex." He replied in a jovial voice and with a friendly smile.

Hearing this Jane sniggered, amused. "Well that's a funny coincidence." She then murmured to herself.

"What is?" Alex inquired, his head was slightly tilted from a bit of harmless befuddlement but nonetheless the expression on his face was friendly and a little bit puerile, like that of a curious child.

"My brother's name is Alec. What are the odds? Right?" Jane chuckled lightheartedly. It has been centuries since she felt genuine innocent happiness that she couldn't even remember the last time she laughed at something besides the torment of others.

"Is that so?" Alex said as he chuckled with her. _"It's not really that funny but why do I find this hilarious."_ He then thought but couldn't care less, all he knew was that being with her and talking to her makes him happy beyond content.

"Can I ask you something?" Jane said, her tone changed from jovial to inquisitive and slightly serious.

"Yeah?" Alex responded in an elongated cadence and with a seemingly confounded countenance on his face.

"Why are you shielding the Cullens from us?" Jane inquired in a strange tone, a bit confused. For some reason she knew that the demigod wasn't very fond of them but wondered why he placed them under his protection.

"The truth is I despise them….a lot." Alex hissed with a clenched fist from which arcs of lightning rippled out from the barely controlled resentment. "Oh look at me I'm Edward. Everyone thinks I'm so cool and perfect cause my hair looks like a rooster's comb and I act as if I'm perpetually constipated. I also don't value Bella's opinion and I stalk her like the little lowlife undead creep that I am." He then said childishly in a mocking tone.

Hearing this, the expression on Jane's face changed again. She seemed cold and distant as she looked at him with a strange and peculiar stare like she was scanning every detail of his person, as if the latter's sarcastic statement evoked a strange sentiment that she found particularly difficult to discern and don't know how to react to.

"I'm sorry. That was highly inappropriate of me." Alex said sheepishly, fidgeting and blushing red like a tomato as he realized how immature he acted.

There was an uncanny and uncomfortable moment of silence before Jane spoke. "Oh look at me I'm Rosalie. I'm superior to everyone because I look slightly better than your average harlot." Jane said in the same hilariously mocking tone that was so uncharacteristic of her that it shocked Alex.

Again silence permeated the air but was abruptly broken as the two burst in to laughter.

"Good one." Alex said as he guffawed, pounding his fist in to his knees out of amusement.

"Oh look at me I'm Bella. Everyone thinks I'm so special but I'm just a regular bitc…." Jane was about to quip further but was harshly cut-off.

"Whoa….okay…let's not go there." Alex cut her off in a hysterical outburst.

"Is there a problem?" Jane inquired, bewildered for it would seem that her quips offended the young man in some vague manner.

"No….no problem." Alex replied, smiling awkwardly and trying to be nonchalant though there was a nervous tremble in his voice that made Jane realize he's hiding something.

"You love her, don't you? That Bella?" Jane said serenely as she finally deduced what's happening.

"No." Alex vehemently denied in a nervous and quavering voice, earning him an incredulous stare from Jane as if she was scanning his mind. "Yes." He sighed, finally admitting the truth to her. "But it doesn't matter now. She already chose Edward over me."

"I don't understand. You are powerful…you could've eliminated Edward at the very beginning and made Bella yours." Jane said ponderingly.

"I decided to play on the moral high grounds." Alex sighed pensively with a sad smile.

"Yeah? How did that go for you so far?" Jane said in a flat and deadpan voice.

"Trust me I've been regretting it every single day." Alex quipped in a breathy voice though ironically it was painfully true.

" _That's cute. I wonder what his blood tastes like."_ For a fleeting moment a dark thought came to Jane's mind as she looked at the young man, feeling a bit of carnal desire as he cracked from his own joke in a somewhat endearing manner.

"It will kill you." Alex said tranquilly to her as if he knew exactly what's on her mind. "But if you really are so thirsty I think I have something here….just a moment." He then hummed contemplatively.

Through his magical art Alex conjured a silver goblet which he filled to the brim with water from a nearby flowing stream. Subsequently, his eyes glowed with white incandescence and before Jane knew it, the water within the goblet turned in to blood.

"Here" Alex said jovially as he handed the goblet to Jane but noticed that the latter was seemingly hesitant to take it, much less drink its content. "Don't worry it won't turn you in to a frog or something." He then reassured with a lighthearted joke.

Reluctantly, Jane slowly took the goblet from the young man's hand and with utmost caution sniffed its content to make sure it is blood and nothing else. Sipping a bit she was taken aback as liquid euphoria flowed through her.

"Wow…this is good." Jane said ecstatically, quaffing some more of the crimson liquid. "Hey wait…I've noticed that you know an awful lot about me. Can you read my mind or something?" She then inquired in a suspicious tone while making a little sneer as if she found it contemptible.

"I could sense emotions." Alex replied smilingly.

"You're not a very good liar aren't you?" Jane said condescendingly.

"I'm not lying." Alex shrugged.

To this, Jane's brows furrowed as she gave the young man an incredulous stare as if she's looking right through his soul. "Just so you know your left eye twitches whenever you lie." She then said with a deadpan countenance on his face.

" _What? Come on!"_ He then exclaimed mentally; realizing how transparent he was and frustrated on how people could easily read him like an open book through his habitual quirks and foibles.

"Well?" Jane said mirthlessly with her arms crossed, waiting for the young man to give her an honest reply.

"Ok fine you got me." Alex sheepishly chuckled as Jane's intensely penetrating stare forced the truth out of his mouth. "My kind is capable of communication from which we could share our innermost essence." He then explained in a smoothly articulate voice.

"In short you could read other's mind like Aro and Edward Cullen?" Jane clarified, wanting a shorter and less complicated explanation.

"Reading someone's mind is an invasion of privacy." Alex replied ever so gently.

"And yet you have no problem reading mine." Jane scoffed.

"It's more complicated than that. It's not about specific thought or memory. It's a sort of exchange of spirit." Alex explained further that caught Jane's interest.

For a moment Jane seemed to have forgotten everything; her duties to the Volturi, her anger towards the Cullen's; all of these fade fleetingly and become irrelevant to her. He could only think of the young man in front of her for it would seem that he made her drunk with the joy of being with him, and of looking into the heaven of his eyes, and of feeling the ecstasy that thrilled along her veins as he listened to the fatal music of his voice.

"Okay." Jane giggled, mincing and simpering around in a ridiculous girly way.

"Are you okay Jane. You're acting a little weird." Alex said awkwardly with a confounded expression on his face.

"Yeah…yeah. Just keep talking to me." Jane said with her fingers curled under her chin and with dreamy eyes fixated on the young man.

"Okay…" Alex muttered in a weird elongated tone before regaining his composure and train of thought back. "I admit looking deep in to your soul that day when we first met. I'm not particularly proud of what I did but I learned much about you." He then continued with an earnest look on his eyes.

"What did you learn?" Jane said with a dreamy smile carved deeply on her face and in a seemingly entranced voice.

"That you're a good person…that your heart is pure despite the cold-hearted monster you want people to see and know you as. That on the inside your spirit is as beautiful as you are on the outside." Alex said in a soft mellow flowing voice that made Jane's beam widen.

"Oh stop." Jane giggled again, if it's biologically possible for a vampire to blush her cheeks would've been red as an apple by now. "No, actually don't. Please tell me more." She then continued in a flirty tone, prinking herself while subconsciously smoothing out his raiment like a schoolgirl who saw her crush pass by and smile at her.

"I can't really explain it but it's like we have a connection, a link. It's like we are…." Alex said in a voice that so visibly conveyed his amazement and wonder but seemingly lacked the words to describe it.

"Yes…." Jane said softly as she gently closed her eyes and puckered her lips.

"….It's like were bros. You know." Alex said boyishly in an enthusiastic voice.

At that point the smile on Jane's face melted away like snow tossed inside a blast furnace and was replaced by the annoyed expression of buzz kill. "Bros…really?" She hissed sarcastically and in a deadpan tone. _"And to think he is making me feel so horny up until now. Oh god this is unbelievable._ " She then thought with a clenched fist and an irritated frown.

"Jane…are you sure everything is okay? You're acting weird again." Alex inquired ever so clueless.

"I'm fine!" Jane exclaimed in a harsh stentorian voice that made Alex recoil and blench from being yelled at.

"You're scaring me." Alex said awkwardly like a nervous little boy.

"It's a good thing you're pretty." Jane said under her breath while she rolled her eyes in dismay, massaging the bridge of her nose to assuage some of her vexation. "This sharing of spirit thing you mentioned earlier…how does it work?" She then said in a perfunctory tone, opting for a change of topic.

"I can show you." Alex said in a gentle voice. "Give me your hand." He then continued in the same manner.

"Okay" Jane said, albeit in an uninterested tone. Still a bit peeved and disappointed she extended her hand. "And now what?" She then asked.

"Open your mind. Close your eyes and….." Alex said, issuing his instructions in a tranquil and entrancing voice but was cutoff.

"Don't say take it easy." Jane hissed with an irked cadence.

"Relax" Alex said softly with an easy smile as he placed his hand over Jane's.

Suddenly Jane felt an ethereal jolt arced through the connection of their adjoined palms. Even with eyes closed tightly she could tell that everything around them is being blanketed by cold white light which rays smote intensely but strangely without glare. Out of wonderment she peeked for a split second to peruse what's happening but what she saw next was beyond imagining and was so replete with supernal wonders and astral splendors that her lids involuntarily opened widely as she could only stare in blank amazement.

By exponential degrees, she experienced a sharpening of visual perception beyond that of a vampire. The trees, the rocks, the flowing streams and everything she can lay her eyes upon began to exhibit new and unimagined colors. At the same time there were curious alterations of outline, every object seeming to extend itself in a hitherto unsuspected fashion. Following this, her surroundings became semi-transparent, like molded shapes of mist.

Very soon she found that not only she could see things that are remote and far beyond her normal visual spectrum but could also perceive them with a resolution beyond the comprehension of other beings. She could see the water and nutrients traveling in to the bodies of trees as they were absorbed from the ground by its roots, she beheld how the said nutrients were transformed in to energy via photosynthesis on the leaves; she could perceive the entire electromagnetic spectrum and could somehow 'hear' people as they communicated with each other through their cellphones or chat through the internet as she can now seemingly easily analyze the frequencies of sound and radio waves permeating the air. But perhaps the most curious of these is her temporarily gaining Alex's ability to see the multiple dimensions of time as they flowed in unison. Smilingly, the young man told her without speaking that she could exert control over the temporal flow through her will alone, dilating it subtly or significantly as she wishes.

Astonishingly, Jane became aware of a steady external influence operating upon her mind and vice versa. She closed her eyes to concentrate her thoughts more profoundly, and was rewarded by the positive knowledge and memories of the young man. Each transmitted idea formed rapidly in her mind, and though no actual language was employed, her habitual association of conception and expression was so great that she seemed to be receiving the message in an unknown prodigious psychic language that she could fully understand.

"Whoah" Is the only word Jane could utter in utmost wonderment as the singular experience was pleasure beyond imagining and euphoria that far exceeds the limitations of earthly existence.

"Oh but there's more." Alex said enthusiastically with a boyish smile on in his face.

At that point Jane noticed how everything vanished like a drawn arras. For moment she felt an inkling of trepidation for only Alex and she remained in a void of infinite darkness. "What's happening?" She then inquired in a nervous voice.

"Wait for it." Alex said excitedly, reassuring the latter that everything will be alright.

Suddenly she heard the sound of a weird lyric melody that aroused her senses and lifted her spirit from the fear she felt. Chords, vibrations, and harmonic ecstasies echoed passionately on every hand; while before her crimson eyes burst the stupendous spectacle of ultimate beauty. Walls, columns, and architraves of living fire blazed effulgently around the spot where she seemed to float in air; extending upward to an infinitely high vaulted dome of indescribable splendor. Blending with this display of palatial magnificence, or rather, supplanting it at times in kaleidoscopic rotation, were glimpses of wide plains and graceful valleys, high mountains and inviting grottoes; covered with every lovely attribute of scenery which her delighted eyes could conceive of. It was magnificent.

As she gazed, she perceived that her own mind held the key to these enchanting metamorphoses; for each vista which appeared to her, was the one her changing cerebration most wished to behold. Amidst this elysian realm she dwelt not as a stranger, for each sight and sound was familiar to her; just as it had been for uncounted eons of eternity before, and would be for like eternities to come.

Jane smiled ever so softly and dreamily. She couldn't remember a happier day in her life that compared to this. It's like she went to sleep and didn't awaken in the mundane world but in a star showered paradise.

A lovely zinging pleasure passed through her but as she opened her eyes again the extraordinary vision she beheld seemed to flicker; first in intervals slow and far in between but became increasingly constant as moments passed like a shadow from a gnomon aligning with different hour lines in a dial as the sun moved across the sky.

Suddenly, the ethereal light ceased and Jane found herself in a familiar locus. Lifting her head she beheld the ancient trees of the forest bathed by the gold and ochre light from the last rays of the setting sun.

"What happened?" She then inquired with a faint melancholy in her low voice, not wanting the sublime hallucination of the extraordinary journey to end just yet.

"Pretty cool right?" Alex said with a big exuberant smile on his face along with a puerile enthusiasm and innocent guilelessness of an excited little boy.

To this Jane remained silent but smiled back to the young man with a most gentle smile. Suddenly, she leaned at him, the gentle smile on her face slowly turned in to a mischievous grin as she reached out and placed her arms around his neck then without warning kissed him.

With burning fervor and passion unrestrained their lips locked. She then teasingly bit Alex's lip softly and consummately slid her tongue inside his mouth, gently caressing his tongue with hers. For a cold monster with skin as hard as stone her lips was surprisingly supple and oozing with voluptuousness.

Alex stiffened and his entire body became rigid, dazed and dumbfounded by the overwhelming wonders he felt from his first kiss that came in such an unexpected time and manner but was so abounding with amorous delight and romantic splendor that for a moment he found himself so drawn to her and everything outside them mattered not.

Slowly, Jane pulled her lips away, breaking the kiss, looking Alex in the eye with a sly smile on her face then playfully pushed him causing the young man to gently fall on a sort of awkward sprawl with his forearms planted on the ground in his sides, supporting his upper body which was reared up slightly in an arc.

"It was decent." Jane teased the young man fetchingly. "Till we meet again." She then smiled as she gracefully took her leave and treaded back to Volterra with vampiric swiftness.

After a while of staring blankly in the air like a day dreaming fool Alex regained his senses. "Amazing" Smiling softly, he then muttered with a long gasp as he blushed somewhat adorably while gently touched his lips that was ardently kissed by Jane.

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(Volterra – Later that Day)

The sun has already sunk in to the horizon when Jane made it back to the walls of Volterra. Walking past Demetri which at the moment was flirting with Ghianna, the new human secretary and receptionist, she then entered the great door to the Volturi's throne room.

As she entered she saw the piles of blood drained corpses that just earlier were people happily having what they thought as an exclusive tour, little do they know the fate awaiting them. There were all sorts of people from young folks, old couples and entire families including small children, all of them dead and with horror filled expression on their lifeless faces as if they beheld an ineffable terror before they perished.

They have been brought by Heidi through her cunning machinations. It was her duty to bring humans to the Volturi to be their provender and she was exceedingly good at it, luring people from different parts of the world and bringing them to Volterra to serve as food for the immortals.

Walking past the mound of corpses Jane then saw Aro raising his cold marble like hand, beckoning her to come. He still had blood dripping from the edges of his mouth, having just finished feeding off an unfortunate woman who had been lured from her small village in the orient with the promise of better prospect in Europe to support her family and aging parents.

The expression on Aro's face was astutely composed and seemingly breezy but through her long centuries of servitude Jane knew better; emotions and attitudes is not always conveyed on her masters' current superficial expressions.

"Jane. I've noticed that you have been somewhat acting strange lately. Is there something wrong my dear." He then inquired in a sere and seemingly concerned tone.

"Forgive me master." Jane said calmly. "It was nothing."

"Come closer child." Aro said tranquilly and with a smile on his face as he extended his hand, desiring to gaze upon Jane's memories.

Jane walked forward and slowly protracted her arm and gave her hand to Aro with calm and collected countenance on her face, though deep inside she was anxious about him founding out the truth about her earlier encounter.

Images of Jane's memories flashed before Aro's eyes as he held her hand, though a particular memory of her was cunningly hidden from him, and along with the emotions and thoughts concerning it was apparently replaced by a fabricated vision of an uneventful afternoon wrought by the cunning enchantments of the demi-god.

"I haven't doubted you for a second." Aro smilingly said in an oily voice.

"We have summoned you here because we have a mission for you." Marcus then spoke in his usual perfunctory tone.

"The Cullen's promised us that Bella will be turned in to an immortal just after the wedding." Caius supplemented. There was a subtle scorn in his voice as if he found it detestable that the Volturi was compelled to accommodate the Cullen's on their own term as compared to the other covens which instantly comply with what they commanded out of respect and fear.

"Anyways, I'm certain you have heard of Edward and Bella's wedding a few days ago. We want you to confirm if she has indeed been turned in to an immortal." Aro said with an ecstatic tone in his voice as he clasped his hands together in to a pyramid. Though, he has a duplicitous agenda in mind. He was interested of how Bella's gift would turn out once she has been turned in to a vampire.

"Go now. Take Felix, Demetri and Alec with you." Caius commanded authoritatively.

"Lucius will meet you at Forks. His gift will prove useful to your mission." Aro then said with a widening grin on his face.

"Yes master." Jane said in a low voice, obeying without question.

Unbeknownst to them there was an invisible shadow lurking on their great hall, unseen and impalpable to their senses. It was Naruto. Utilizing **Tōton Jutsu** he monitors the Volturi's activities every now and then, gathering intel to uncover if the paramount coven is scheming against his family.

Moments earlier he could just cringe when the Volturi fed on the hapless people that was lured to their deaths by Heidi, unable to do anything knowing that it would mean war if he interfered. Looking past this however, he was intrigued not by the sovereign vampires' edict but by Jane herself, or rather the curious trinket she's wearing. The crimson gem of condensed vitality that hanged on her neck exudes energy eerily similar to that used by Jake to cure Seth from Aldinach's venomous sap.

"That's weird. I have to get to the bottom of this." He then muttered inaudibly. He knew who gave Jake the curious artifact and was rather fine about it but it concerned him to see one in the possession of Jane, suspecting that Alex has formed an alliance with the Volturi to destroy the Cullen's once and for all and claim Bella for himself.

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(Storm Manor – Cardiff, UK)

" _Last night I had a dream about you_

 _In this dream I'm dancing right beside you_

 _And it looked like everyone was having fun_

 _the kind of feeling I've waited so long"_

With a pair of monster headphones clasping both his ears Alex hummed to the tune of Digital Love by Daft Punks, occasionally singing some of the lyrics though he was horribly out of tune and off-key. Nonetheless there was a big smile on his face when he teleported back home that day. Needless to say it was because of his earlier encounter with Jane.

Finally he has found that special someone who would accept his love and love him back in return. At the same time, he has forgotten all of the angst and his detestation of Naruto and the Cullens, and admitted to himself that he was largely at fault with regards to the bad blood and iron curtain between them.

Then a thought came to him. He lowered the volume of his iPod to mute, it gave him a brief moment of both mental and physical silence that put his mind in an introspective position and think about the said thought more profoundly.

After some time of contemplating he raised his head. "I will go to the Cullen's tomorrow." He then said to himself with a gentle smile, choosing to live a peaceful coexistence with them and with Naruto. He knew that they won't trust him at first, especially the shinobi, but at that moment he made a decision and a goal to earn their trust and eventually their friendship no matter what it takes or how long it takes.

Turning back the volume, he then continued humming as he walked the halls of the luxurious mansion in to his room but noticed a strange presence as he gazed upon the half-opened double door of the library.

Slowly he pushed one of the lacquered and gilded doors then entered its threshold. Indeed, the library was a one of a kind marvel to behold for it not only comprised an eight of the mansion's total floor area but also contained great works of both the ancient and the contemporary world; its long cedar and mahogany shelves were overcrowded with rare and precious books, and many volumes were piled high on the tables or stacked in corners.

There were rolls of papyrus that survived the destruction of Alexandria; there were parchments of vellum that contained an original manuscript of Sappho - a complete copy of a poem otherwise extant only in brief fragments; there were two of the lost tales of Miletus, a letter of Perides to Aspasia, an unknown dialogue of Plato and an old Arabian work on astronomy, by some anonymous author, in which the theories of Copernicus are anticipated. There were also strange Byzantine or Coptic bibles; there were old Arabic and Persian manuscripts with floriated or jewel-studded covers; there were scores of incunabula from the first printing-presses; there were innumerable monkish copies of antique authors, bound in wood or ivory, with rich illuminations and lettering that was often in itself a work of art.

But the most precious and undoubtedly the darkest of this collection of knowledge were the ones housed on a well concealed and protected part of the library, accessible only via hidden passage that opened by triggering a hidden spring on a plinth were stood a statue of the sun god Ra. The said statue wrought of basalt and gold was taken from its rightful place along with many other ancient treasures by one of Alex's ancestors, the 4th Lord Storm, during one of his expeditions to Egypt in the mid-1800s where he almost nearly expended the family fortune being the silent financier and benefactor of an obscure French archeologist.

Entering the hidden passageway one would find a secret room where behind a protective transparent wall of bullet proof glass are entire shelves dedicated to grimoires, ancient scrolls, and books bound with serpent skin, black steel, obsidian or gold and with hasps and clasps of bronze or electrum that contained the esoteric lore, arcane knowledge and magical secrets of Atlantis, of Mu and of other ancient civilizations that has been eroded by the march of time and forgotten by modern men.

While sealed between large monolithic pylons of glass or resin frames were the ancient Hyperborean scrolls that were too frail to touch, such of these are the writings of Phnom that contained the secrets of the winter's cold and the names that must be supplicated to invoke its power.

Walking past the stack of books and pylons of glass, into a great clockwork orrery located in the center of the room Alex saw a strange being. It was a pitch-black, eight-foot-tall, faceless humanoid clad in a glossy dark business suit over a fiery under blazer and with black monochromatic tie; and seemingly quite wraithlike in nature as it walked pass through any physical barrier such as the hardwood tables and shelves of the library.

Noticing the young man's presence the creature turned its attention to him and spoke in a thin and eerily rippling voice. "An elegant device isn't it?" It said curling its bony fingers on to the orrery.

"This is private property my friend I'm afraid I have to ask you to leave." Alex said ever so politely though cautious of what harm the creature is capable of he manifested a blade of pure entropy and prepared to defend himself.

Seeing the crimson katar-like ethereal blade materialized just above Alex's wrist the creature laughed in an evil cachinnation then strode closer to the young man.

"That's far enough." Alex warned in a mirthless voice, pointing his blade on to the creature. "Tell me your name, I command you!" He then continued as he began to recite an ancient incantation in a harsh hissing forgotten tongue that can compel both the creatures of the high heavens and the burning hells to answer the call and interrogation of the one who speaks it aloud.

"Oh stop with the useless yammering already." The creature said in a sarcastic tone. "I will tell you my name….it's Nyarlathotep." It then said with what looked like a grin manifesting in to its faceless countenance as it decided to take a more human like form; morphing at first as an ambiguous humanoid blob which transformed in to a tall, slim, olive skinned man in his late thirty's.

"Nyarlathotep…..what are you doing here, you cannot be on this realm." Alex hissed in a mirthless tone as he prepared to cast a potent spell that would banish the dark god.

"Calm yourself boy. No thanks to the wretched barrier my nephew erected long ago I could only manifest on this sphere in a spectral form and pose you no harm." Nyarlathotep answered astutely while a crooked grin subsequently assumed on his face. "And besides, even if I have the power, do you really think I could hurt the grand prize of my loins, my own flesh and blood?...well, so to speak."

"I don't know what you're talking about blud ….you're not my bloody father." Alex said awkwardly. His head was slightly tilted and there was a bewildered countenance on his face after hearing the odd statement.

"I am your forefather, you are my mortal descendant." Nyarlathotep said in a deep and reverberating voice as he looked at Alex who seemingly dumbfounded by what he just heard. "We are more alike than you think." He then continued while the smile on his face broadened.

"You're lying." Alex said as he eyed the god incredulously, while shimmering glyphs of planar banishment spells traced itself in to the air.

"Before you exorcise me from this realm let me ask you something." Nyarlathotep said, though his voice shifted from that of an arrogant evil deity to a much mellower and equable tone.

"I'd rather not hear it." Alex said as his eyes glowed white and his voice took on an eerie echoing cadence as he charged the spell that would banish the latter.

"Tell me child…why are you so unbearably sad." Nyarlathotep queried in a soft voice that reflected some glimmer of paternal concern.

"I…don't know…what you're talking about." Flummoxed and caught off guard, Alex stuttered.

"You are a terrible liar." Nyarlathotep smirked before the expression on his face assumed a more serious but empathic countenance. "There is no point in dishonesty. Your heart is plain for me to see. And I can see pain….so much pain, anguish and sorrow…but not enough hatred."

"I'm sending you back where you came." Alex said coldly, mentally trying to brush-off Nyarlathotep's words as he regained some of his composure. Then, stretching his hand he was about to pronounce the infallible incantation that will serve to expel the deity from the human sphere but was cutoff.

"That Bella girl….you gave her the gift of your love but she broke your heart in to a million pieces in return." Nyarlathotep said contemplatively in a mellow flowing voice while his left hand rubbing his chin.

"I don't owe you any explanation." Alex said defensively but he couldn't help but recall how much it hurt to love someone and not be loved in return; and that night when he merely wanted to see Bella for the last time, before Edward claims her completely. He could clearly remember the bone shearing loneliness and indignity of how Bella looked at him with so much contempt like he was a filthy animal and renounced their friendship on the spot, just like that, and without even giving him any chance.

"No. you do not." Nyarlathotep said solemnly as he looked at the young man with sympathy. "But you want the pain to stop, don't you?" He then continued in the same manner.

To this, Alex couldn't utter a single word and fell to his knees while staring blankly as if an invisible arrow went right through his heart for what the dark deity said was the very truth he was too cowardly to admit. His heart sank and his soul grew sick with pain, despair and the death of his evanescent hope. He could believe no longer in love or kindness or beauty. There was nothing left but shadow and grayness and dust, nothing but the empty dark and the cold, and a clutching weight of insufferable weariness, of immedicable anguish.

"There, there my child." Nyarlathotep comforted the despondent young man. Then, placing his hand on the latter's shoulder he once again spoke. "Do not be ashamed that you yearned for happiness, it is no cause for damnation….but always remember that you can't beg for happiness, it must be taken."

"What would you have me do?" Alex muttered in inflections that were thin and quavering, like the ghost of his former voice as streams of tears raced through his face.

"Hate them, the humans of this world….hate them all." Nyarlathotep said in a powerful entrancing voice as he looked directly at the young man's eyes.

"I….I can't…I mustn't. It is my duty to protect them. " Alex said in the most broken voice, shifting his gaze. Trying to convince himself that what Nyarlathotep said isn't true though deep inside he knew that it was everything but a lie.

"They took you for a fool my son. Hate them…it is alright for you to hate them. You protected these ungrateful and paltry creatures every single day but the way they treat you, as if you're lower than dirt; you sacrifice and channel much of your divine power and endured so much pain every waking hour to sustain the barrier Errealth has created at the behest of this undeserving lot so that they may live and squander their fleeting lives unmolested by the demons of the void and without interference from the gods of the high heavens. But what good did that ever do to you? What kindness have they ever shown you? Nothing. Instead they insult and snide you behind your back, laugh at how low you have fallen from grace, and view you with both distrust and disgust. Loathe them with all the fiber of your being, and when the darkness and hate filled your heart to the brim, dissolve the barrier that betwixt our realm from the human sphere….and I, along with the rest of our kind shall pass through the veil and cast them where they belong, groveling beneath our feet." Nyarlathotep said persuasively in a deep resonant voice, the voice of a practiced orator and with the unparalleled skill of a master manipulator.

"But…." Alex mumbled loosely, trying to anchor himself from the temptation but in the end conceded, realizing that Bella and the others will never accept him, and that his place is with his own kind.

"They are unworthy of your love nor of your kindness my child. All they deserve is your hate, and that is all they will know besides death and eternal suffering." Nyarlathotep sealed the conversation with an erudite and compellingly eloquent statement while the last echoes of his spellbinding voice lessened and died out in hollow sepulchral vibrations as he himself vanished without trace, leaving the now emotionally damaged Alex for the moment until the hatred and darkness in the latter's heart grow sufficiently for him to be used as a living weapon and the key to once again unleash the dark god's fury upon humanity.

 **-End**

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 **Hey there folks!**

 **Wow, I just realized that it has been almost a month since I last updated. You may notice that this chapter is a little bit darker than most of the story. This is because I'm experimenting on a few writing styles that I learned just recently. Hopefully I did justice to it.**

 **So, as the title suggests this chapter mainly expound on the villains of the story and their respective point of view. But don't worry the focus will once again shift to Naruto and the Cullens on the next chapter. Oh, that reminds me… Just to give you guys a heads up. It will be a little lemony. To top it all there will be a confrontation between Naruto and Alex, not the little sneers and funny exchange of witty insults that they usually have but full blown mortal combat.**

 **Anyways, I hope you awesome people enjoyed reading and as always any comments and suggestions that would help improve the story are always welcome.**


	24. Chapter 24: Fire and Blood

(One Week Earlier)

It was already night when the chartered plane touched down at Rio de Janeiro–Galeão International Airport. All this time Bella slept by Edward while he placed his arm around her.

During the entirety of the flight all Edward could think of is her; of how beautiful her wife is and it also made him sad that very soon she has to be turned lest they give the Volturi an excuse to declare war on his family. It's quite a predicament but for now he must forget all of it for the plane has now landed and a new chapter of their life as husband and wife will begin.

"Bella, we're here." Edward said in a soft velvety voice.

Slowly, Bella opened her eyes. She looks so cute every time she does that and it never fails to make Edward smile.

"Wow I must've dozed off." Bella said.

"You did." Edward teased, smiling ever so gently to her.

"Hey!" Bella said playfully.

Unlike the frigid and wet weather of Forks, Rio de Janeiro was warm and has a more pleasing tropical climate. There were singing and dancing on the streets and all sorts of jollity on the lively and colorful seaside city. Needless to say, Bella loved it.

Though Edward couldn't read her mind it doesn't take telepathy to know that. Telling their chauffeur to stop the car he then held Bella's hand and gently pulled her out of the vehicle so that they could join and partake in all of the merriments.

It was an amazing evening; they danced in the moonlight with the jovial and friendly locals on the sweet music of bongos and saxophones of which booming tones are ecstasy. They kissed ardently while the rapturous touch of warm breeze blew from the sea. Then later that night they boarded one of the boats in the port that took them to Isle Esme.

Isle Esme, the small slice of tropical paradise of crystal clear warm waters and glass smooth sparkling sand was not only an eye candy but a sanctuary; teaming with marine life and a jungle hosting colorful and exotic birds that were so beautiful and vivid that the sight of them is enough to inspire colorful dreams from the beholder.

In the island there is a beach house near the shore that would serve as the newlywed's abode for the interim of their honey moon. It was tall and earth colored, and the interior is in varying light shades, similar to the Cullen's house. The master bedroom has a huge white bed with billowy bug netting surrounding it; and the room adjacent to it, where they would spend the rest of their nights on the island, has more appropriate size bed and blue walls.

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After some skinny dipping in the clear waters of the cerulean sea that has been so touched by the tropical warmth of Isla Esme's ambient air, Edward and Bella decided to go back to the house to continue the more amorous facet of their love.

Lying on the bed with nothing but each other's embrace Edward gently kissed Bella's lips and she kissed him back, placing her hands on his face and on his back, caressing his spine with sweet and gentle strokes.

Slowly, Edward's kisses moved to her cheeks, her jawline, her neck, her collar going down to her breasts with smooth and pleasure charged transition. He then sucked hard at her nipples in quick order and then drew back. He slapped her breasts playfully, from left to right until they turned pink.

"Edward!" Bella croaked in pleasure, she was blushing and gasping for air. Her face was flushed and she had her little golden frown still, biting her lips as Edward moved south in to her womanhood where there was a dampness gleaming of her inner thighs.

"Edward…." Bella moaned, she grasped the sheets and could barely lift her eyelids open as Edward worked his tongue with the artful strokes of a painter.

Bella then grabbed Edwards copper hair and kissed his lips ardently with a passion burning like a thousand suns. She threw herself to him and explored her body. She sucked his nipples, discovering that for all the vampire's disturbing whiteness and coldness and hard skin they were soft and obviously intimately connected in a seemingly natural way to the root of his desires.

As she superimposed her body in to his, she could feel his manhood poking on her left thigh. It was cold and hard like wood or stone. Greedily, Bella grabbed and licked the shaft, sending Edward to a sea of ecstasy and splendor.

With her lips cupped on his manhood Bella began to suck on the tip and put her mouth around it entirely, then moved her head up and down in a gentle carnal rhythm while Edward could only moan in pleasure with half open eyes. He lay there, graceful and not too quiet, letting her play with him.

After a while Bella looked at Edward with her chocolate brown orbs, asking him with her eyes. With his strong arms the vampire then laid her in to position and slowly thrust forward in to her womanhood with his hard tool, making her gasped deeply in a feverous ecstasy of pain and pleasure.

Edward plunged in to her, amazed at the sensation of his manhood being wrapped in a tight fleshy wall inside of Bella.

She moaned, hard. Grabbing the sheets, she winced in both pleasure and pain of being penetrated for the first time.

"Edward….please don't stop." Bella moaned and gasped erratically as Edward pulled and thrust with faster rhythm.

Edward himself was overwhelmed by the sweet carnal pleasure as he broke through her hymen and continued to pound her; as he look at her face blush every time he plunge in to her; as he heard her moan every time he temporarily retreat then thrust back, fuller and deeper. It was too much. He grabbed the headboard tight to anchor himself from being washed away by the torrent of erotic pleasure, crushing it easily as if it was made of a material far more brittle than wood.

"Bella….I'm coming." Edward said, gasping.

Edward moaned as he gave forth a violent unsurpassed spasm a great rush. He then moaned again, this time deeper and far longer as Bella felt the vampire's manhood pulsing inside of her, making her moan too in so much pleasure as well as orgasm from all the accumulated intensity, it felt amazing.

Edward collapsed atop of Bella, he could hear her heartbeat pounding on her chest, and he was still inside of her. Both of them then burst in to laughter, not wanting the magical moment to end.

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(Cullen's House)

"It has been a week since the wedding. I wonder what those two are doing now." Emmett said with a mischievous grin on his face.

"The same stuff newlywed do in their honeymoon." Naruto replied in a sarcastic tone.

"Which is?" Emmett inquired as if he doesn't know.

"Seriously?" Naruto said with a raised brow.

"Oh come. I know you want to watch the show too Naruto." Emmett said trying to convince the shinobi to see what Edward and Bella are doing.

"Well yeah but….." Naruto said contemplatively, weighing his curiosity over his moral sense.

"What are you guys talking about?" Jasper said as he walked in with Alice and Rosalie.

Alice was smiling as she subtly shook her head, for she knew what exactly the two were talking about.

"Naruto wants to go peep at Edward and Bella." Flummoxed, an escape goat involuntarily burst out of Emmett's mouth in an obnoxiously loud and shrill voice, without him really thinking about it.

"Perverts" Rosalie scowled.

"What!...why…what?" Naruto comically blathered incoherently from the shock and confusion of what just happened before the annoyance and irritation eventually kicked in. "Why you little!" He then said with clenched teeth as he gave Emmett an annoyed glare.

"Sorry" Emmett muttered inaudibly with a sheepish smile.

It would've been an awkward but funny scenario, however just mere moments passed by when Naruto was filled with a foreboding apprehension as the seal in his right arm glowed faintly like dying embers, signifying only one ominous warning that forced itself in to his attention, Edward and Bella is in trouble.

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(Isle Esme)

Edward and Bella were making love while the pale silvery rays of the full moon illuminated the beach and made the sand sparkle like a field of stars. This is only the second time they made love since last week due to the bruises that appeared on Bella's arms and body the following day that greatly upset Edward.

Though tamer by comparison to the last one, it was still as steamy as one could expect; moans and gasps reverberated in the walls and glassworks of the house as they fool around in the bedroom.

"Bella I'm going to cum!" Edward moaned while Bella gasped erratically.

But mere moments before Edward could unleash his essence inside Bella someone grabbed him in the arm and flung him with such force that he crashed through the wall and broke through the glass window.

While Bella on the other hand instantly collapsed back to bed as all her senses where seemingly benumbed by a hypnotic spell that caused her to succumb in a deep slumber.

With vampiric speeds Edward got up and nakedly shifted in to a defensive stance only for a punch to hit him in the face and stumble down again. "You!" He said in a mirthless voice as he had a glimpse of who his attacker is.

"Bastard! You befouled her!" Alex roared as his eyes glow white as if with intense heat like incandescent filaments wreathed by a ghostly azure energy similar to the blue flames of burning sulphur, and from them a nasty glare was directed cruelly towards Edward with an open intention to kill. "I will tear you apart." He then said with extreme hatred and infuriation interlacing his demonic growl like voice as he blasted the vampire with a bolt of psychic energy that sent him spiraling in to a nearby palm.

With vampiric speeds Edward charged and prepared to combat the interloping young man but was caught by an invisible force that paralyzed the vampire and helplessly suspended him in midair.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that…..and this." Alex said with a demonic grin as he charged a spell that manifested as coruscating fiery beams of energy that he shot from his eyes.

The beam traveled with incredible speeds that it warped the air around it but before it was able to connect Naruto **hiraishined** in to the island and conjured an earth wall with his jutsu to shield his sibling from the baleful magic of the young man.

"I didn't come here for you. Move away." Alex exclaimed in a deathly serious voice and with eyes suddenly shifting and instantly narrowing at Naruto as the earth wall the latter conjured was atomized.

"Let's finish this. You are overdue for an ass kicking pretty boy!" Naruto exclaimed as he smirked contemptuously. From a scroll he pulled out of his side pocket he then unlocked a katana of black steel.

This sword was forged from the highest quality tamahagane folded along with a special alloy created by Naruto himself. The resulting blade is not only virtually indestructible like adamantium but also readily absorbs chakra and can be infused with the elemental nature of its wielder; making it glow with an azure aura as the shinobi channeled his wind element chakra in to it, increasing its already formidable cutting power a thousand fold.

"Yes. Too long indeed." Alex's eyes narrowed on the shinobi; at the same time a crimson katar-like ethereal blade manifested just above his wrist. The weapon itself was a construct of pure entropy summoned from the epicenter of all creation and destruction, and focused in to a fearsome incandescent blade.

With preternatural celerity and an agility mind boggling even to vampires, the two combatants charged at each other with an open intention to kill his adversary. Lightning and thunder permeated the air as both of their weapons meet, and the corresponding shockwave was powerful enough to completely shatter all of the glass mirrors and windows of the Cullen's beach house.

Naruto summersaulted and landed perfectly on his feet while Alex seemed to have disappeared while the immediate environment suddenly grew increasingly frigid, and rime gathered on the leaves of the tropical fauna as the dew collected on its surface froze from the abrupt drop of temperature. Eerily, for some strange reason the shinobi found it a bit difficult to move.

In truth this is because by manipulating the wind and electrical energies around him Alex rendered himself invisible. He favored to utilize this mode of stealth in his battle with Naruto rather than the usual method he employ that involves partially phasing his body in to another dimension because unlike Errealth he cannot attack an enemy while in such a state; furthermore, the elemental imbalance created as a consequence by the said enchantment slows the opponent down allowing him to strike the latter more easily.

Out of sudden Naruto noticed that the area around him brightened a little while his shadow retreated back to his feet. Sensing an attack from above he quickly moved away. His movements were so fast that to an observer it would seem that he just blurred out and disappeared completely.

The shinobi's intuition was right on the spot as just a mere second a catastrophic ray of fierce energy darted from the heavens and incinerated the area where he once stood, melting the sand in to molten glass. However, before he could say a word Alex materialized in front of him and attacked with a forward thrust.

Naruto deflected the attack with his katana. A loud resonating metallic peal ensued along with some arcs and sparks but the shibobi managed to fend off the demigod. This however was only temporary. Appearing as a series of after-images, Alex retaliated with a more powerful blow, this time severing the shinobi's katana as he executed a lighting swift slash.

" _He's fast."_ Naruto thought with a rather enthusiastic smile on his face, enjoying the battle.

"Do you really think your flimsy blade is a match for the sword of the sun god?" Alex said in a mirthless tone as he once again charged and prepared to attack.

"The sword of the sun god…so that's what your weapon is called huh…Ya'know, a weapon like that must use up a lot of energy, it might actually help if you aim for me." Naruto said mockingly as he easily danced through a series of Alex's thrusts and slashes. "Oops, too slow…missed me again…you know what they say about guys with big swords right? So, are you compensating for something?" He then taunted, wiggling his pinky as if to playfully imply how small his opponent's manhood was.

Quickly forming a sage chakra infused **rasengan** on one hand Naruto skillfully evaded another attack then slammed the spinning ball of destruction on to Alex but the young man was able to block it with his sword; nonetheless, the power of the jutsu was so great that it sent the latter spiraling away at a considerable distance.

Regaining his balance Alex anchored one hand to the ground and landed on his feet, grabbing a quantity of the beach's white sand on the process. "I wouldn't know. Unlike you I don't have that problem." He then snide, flinging a handful of sand to Naruto in both a figurative and literal sense.

Before releasing it from his hand Alex charged the sand with his divine energy and as they were flung in to the air each particle blazed a red-orange glow like a swarm of tiny incandescent drones that circled in a constant search pattern.

With a flick of the young man's fingers they then darted and swarmed at Naruto, homing on him wherever he goes and burning through everything that stands in their way for it would seem that each grain of sand is enveloped in a powerful energy shield which allows them to burrow through virtually anything, and then perforate the target to destroy it.

Like glowing bees from hell they were relentless, one of them managed to graze Naruto's face with a glancing blow. There was no blood; the energy field surrounding the grain of sand produces intense heat that cauterized the wound instantly. Nonetheless it was quite painful, like being cut and burned at the same time.

"Son of a…." Naruto grit his teeth, irked. "Okay fairy boy. No more mister nice guy!" He then continued as rippled patterns emerged from his now purple and faintly glowing eyes

Subsequently, a golden shroud of chakra began to engulf him. Then it formed in to a light gold colored coat with a dark colored 'bodysuit' that covers his torso underneath, reaching down to his arms and to his knuckles, and down his legs, stopping just above his sandals which also changed color. A light colored circle appeared where his seal was placed, as well as golden magatama markings on his collar. Then truth seeking balls began to form. They were orbs of black malleable chakra the size of a fist and containing all five nature transformations and yin-yang release.

Alex responded to this by making a strange hand gesture that sent all of the energized sand speeding towards Naruto.

" **Shinara Tensei**!" Naruto exclaimed with an outstretched hand. Unleashing a wave of repulsive force that blasted away Alex's attack like a swarm of fireflies flailed to death by a sudden violent gust. "Now for you, you little bastard." He then said with a clenched fist but the deathly serious expression on his face suddenly changed in to a comical chibi countenance upon seeing that Alex was no longer in sight. "You coward show yourself!" He exclaimed comicaly.

"Stop messing around Naruto! He's dangerous. Take him seriously!" Kurama scolded harshly inside of Naruto's head that stimulated the latter to take on a more serious countenance.

"I'm taking him seriously. This guy just has too many hax." Naruto retorted defensively. Then concentrating his chakra in to his senses he was able to detect a presence nearby.

"I'm right here." Said a familiar voice. Turning his head sharply Naruto saw that it was Alex, the latter was standing on his side wielding a sphere of hyper-condensed divine energy and with a demonic grin carved on the countenance of his face.

It would seem that the infernal sand was only a distraction to buy the demigod more time for him to weave darker and more dangerous spells.

With another strange hand gesture, the ball of energy hovering above Alex's other hand shot out a barrage of smaller but rapid fire energy blasts at point blank range. Apparently these blasts still maintains enough energy density to warp even Naruto's shroud of Six Path Sage chakra as each of them impacted with a force analogous to a titan's punch.

This forced Naruto in to a defensive, utilizing his truth seeking balls to form a barrier before enough of the young man's attacks penetrate his chakra shroud. Though the sheer force of the said blasts' inexorably pushed him a good distance in to the sea.

After a while the bombardment ceased, peeking through a small view hole he made by creating a small opening on his barrier Naruto saw that Alex was apparently out of ammo and starting to tire.

"Is that all you got!" He then yelled trollishly, giving Alex the finger, infuriating the latter.

Fed up, the countenance on Alex's face took on a more demonic form as his eyes glowed brightly while his upper lateral and canine incisors grew sharp like a pair of pearly dragon fangs, then atop his head materialized a pair of elven antlers and betwixt them is a pre-human rune that traced itself in to the air and branded its malignancy in to the fabric of spacetime, black as the void yet strangely brilliant that anyone who beheld it is blinded by the weird changing and dazzling of its sinister form. Subsequently, a pair of powerful white feathery wings sprouted from his back, making him appear as if he was a fallen angel; beautiful but malevolent, clad in so much hatred.

"So, that's what you really are huh. Actually, you look slightly better than that angry little girl who tried and fail to pin me down earlier with his little gay as fuck looking sword." Naruto taunted in a voice far more mocking and derisive than earlier. Outwardly, it would seem that he's just trolling Alex until the latter can no longer take it and crack. In reality however, the said gamble is a far more strategic move than meets the eye for he was gauging his opponent's strength to formulate the best course of action to subdue him, at the same time he was also trying to exhaust the latter by forcing him to throw unnecessary attacks and waste his energy out of anger.

Though this was a fatal mistake for unbeknownst to Naruto, the young man's power levels are contingent to his state of mind, being directly proportional to his hate. This means that the more hate and rage Alex feels the stronger he becomes.

"Why don't you shut up and die!" Alex exclaimed in a guttural demonic voice as he channeled destructive empyrean energies from the outlying dimensional planes and incorporated them with his own divine power. Cupping his hand and thrusting them forward he concentrated the coalesced and now volatile energies and expelled the resulting explosive blast upon Naruto as an extremely powerful beam of cascading annihilation that completely encompassed the shinobi; violently pushing him backwards and propelling him across the sea, from island to island, while boiling away the sea water below from where it traveled not only due to the intense heat of the beam itself but also because of the sporadic bursts of extra-planar energy manifesting as iridescent bolts of lightning that arced from its core and descended in to the immediate environment, evaporating everything it touched; then finally exploding in to a massive fireball as the beam impacted Ipanema, completely vaporizing the zone and razing significant parts of the neighboring Leblon and Copacabana.

Needless to say the people within ground zero was instantly disintegrated while those unfortunate enough to live ten miles away from the fireball's radius and survived where burned so horrendously that they were like piteous broken creatures wrought of charcoal and bleeding heat blackened gore, constantly imploring the merciful release of death from the immense torment as they limped and crawled their seared bodies on the barren and smoldering soil, and knew first-hand the agonizing kiss of burning embers on their exposed flesh.

Thanks to the Six Path Sage cloak he donned Naruto survived, sustaining only minimal damage from the blast. However as he turned his gaze he saw first-hand the scope of the destruction; horrified, he beheld what became of Ipanema, or rather what remained of it. The majestic tropical beaches, along with the colorful line of skyscraper hotels that riddled its coast where no more for Ipanema is now a blazing inferno; barren and dead, the clear blue waters it was famous for was boiled away and the sea itself retreated in to its deeper body to give way to the gushing river of molten glass that was once the powdery sand of its shores.

"Bastard!" Naruto exclaimed out of anger as he clenched his fists on his side. "You will pay for this." He then exclaimed as he darted to Alex's location with speeds faster than the fastest human made jet.

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Sobering up a little, Alex thought that he has already slain Naruto. To his surprise however when he saw three fast approaching shimmering specs of light in the horizon; focusing his sight on the said objects he was dumbfounded to see that it was the shinobi, and on his sides were Kurama and Shukaku, all of them are clad in the golden shroud of Six Path Sage chakra and coming at him at near hypersonic speeds.

Taking off from the ground and flying away from Isle Esme he decided to employ powerful telekinetic attacks against the trio, tearing mountains from their bases and lifting islands from the seabed with only the sheer force of his will, he then sent them flying like giant projectiles towards his assailants at a flick of his wrist.

Seeing this, both Bijuu charged their tailed beast balls and fired at the massive projectiles psionicaly flung to them by Alex. Shukaku's beast ball landed a direct hit and vaporized a small speeding island while the subsequent explosion destroyed and deflected the other displaced land masses; this has enabled Kurama to execute a plan drafted by Naruto on the spot as the fox's beast ball smote right through the explosion and darted towards the young man.

Being partially dazed by the glare of the explosion which was like the detonation of a small tactical nuclear warhead Alex couldn't anticipate Kurama's incoming tailed beast ball. _"I can't steer away from it and there's not enough time for me to weave a counter spell. I must take it head on."_ He then thought as the sapphire blue of his eyes could only widen a split second before the bullet of super condensed chakra impacted his defenses.

A massive explosion soon occurred, more powerful than the last one, and it violently threw Alex miles away from his previous location. Apparently, the explosion of the first beast ball was used as a distraction for the other one to successfully strike him down.

It is also worth mentioning that Shukaku, under Naruto's instructions, purposely formed a less powerful but well calibrated tailed beast ball so that the one expelled by Kurama won't be too destabilized as it pass right through the explosion while at the same time deceiving the young man that a simultaneous detonation occurred, making the latter lower his guard for a moment.

"Good one." Alex smirked with begrudging respect for Naruto's tactical genius as he spiraled down in to a sharp trajectory and finally crashed in to the base of a small mountain located in a remote island, eliciting a sizable crater from where he first made contact and smaller ones followed by a long discontinuous shallow ditches as he tumbled over and ploughed right to the ground from the sheer momentum of impact.

"Did we get him?" Shukaku inquired in an ecstatic voice, placing his claw above his forehead to better see where the young man crashed.

"He's definitely still alive." Naruto said in a somber and deathly serious voice.

"Yes. But at least we saw how his defenses work…enough for us to device a strategy to break it." Kurama said with a grin on his face.

"We do?" Naruto inquired with a comically confused expression on his face.

Kurama sighed heavily as he saw Naruto staring at him with a confounded countenance. "You have no idea what I'm talking about, don't you?" He then inquired, albeit he already knew the answer.

"No. Not really?" Naruto sheepishly chuckled then scratched the back of his head, admitting that he has absolutely no clue of what the fox was talking about.

" _Oh for the love of…..."_ Kurama thought with a blank expression on his face. "Fine…listen well Naruto. Do you remember Gaara, the former Jinchuriki of this squirrel over here?"

"Screw you, you dumb fox I'm not a squirrel!" Shukaku sneered in protest.

"Bite me!" Kurama exclaimed with a great roar that made the tanuki eye him contemptuously.

"Hey, hey, hey guys….focus, ok." Naruto said, diffusing the tailed beasts' bickering. "You're saying something about his defenses?" He then turned to Kurama.

"As I was saying" Kurama spoke while both he and Shukaku comically glared at each other. "Like Gaara, your opponent employs a series of defenses; a shield and an armor, so to speak. Though, instead of sand he uses energy." He then expounded his observation to Naruto in the simplest way he was capable of.

The fox's analysis was actually very close to accurate. As a means of protecting himself Alex utilizes a less powerful but still highly effective variant of Errealth's defense matrix. It functions quite strangely compared to other mode of shielding such as the chakra shroud used by Naruto as it is out of phase with the rest of the young man until an enemy's attack connected, thus it only truly exists in the normal space-time continuum at the moment of deflection, at all other times there is no indication of its presence. The said defense matrix can be broken down in to three components:

The first is a cyclonic bubble enveloping him that while naturally invisible becomes translucent when attacked. This sphere is composed of a wall of interwoven energy fields and powerful gravitic distortions which are held together and reinforced by the demi-god's vast psionic powers, and ferociously rips apart and atomize anything that came in contact with it, be it matter or energy.

Next to this is a dimensional barrier that distorts the localized space-time around it, any attack who manages to penetrate the first layer is 'swallowed' by the second, displacing it from the physical plane only to be later banished in to a pocket dimension.

The third and final layer is a form hugging skin tight armor composed of overlapping layers of nullifying force that diffuses the energy of an incoming attack. To better visualize its mode of operation, one would need only to imagine a scenario where for example a projectile such as a bullet was fired upon the young man from a barrel of a gun; the speeding bullet (given that it somehow made it through the first and second tier of his defenses) will just drop dead on the ground the moment it impacts the armor for all of its kinetic energy will be quickly dissipated on contact. Furthermore, if in an instance the armor was breached an elemental imbalance would occur as a result; manifesting as a fierce field of crackling, incandescent, crimson living lightning that arced from Alex's body, surrounding him; and those who dare come near to strike the young man will be electrocuted in return.

"How do you propose we smash it?" Naruto inquired, looking at the fox.

"Hmm, we should…." Kurama brooded for a while but was cutoff as he was about to proposition a strategy.

Suddenly, Shukaku balled his claw and pounded it together with his other claw, implying a subliminal message to both Naruto and Kurama. "We smash it with brutal force!" He then exclaimed with a sly blood thirsty smile.

"Surprisingly, the fat rodent is right." Kurama said, a bit peeved from being cut off by Shukaku. "Perhaps concentrating enough massive force on a single point would overcome his defenses.

"Right. Let's do this!" Naruto exclaimed as like Shukaku, he clenched his fist tightly and slammed it together with the open palm of his other hand, concurring to the tailed beasts' strategy that pure brutal force is the order of the day.

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Alex got up, a bit dazed but nonetheless unharmed. Though even before he could say a word he saw Naruto appear in front of him wielding an impressive **Chōōdama Rasengan** which the latter quickly smashed in to his opponent with so great a force.

The jutsu however flickered then stretched apart like rubber before finally dissipating as it impacted the young man's defenses, though Alex could feel the tingling sensation from the ensuing shockwave caused by the massive spinning ball of chakra reacting with the energy fields from his first line of defense.

Subsequently, he saw the rainforest in front of him burst in to bright flames as Kurama expelled an intensely powerful fire jutsu from his mouth supplemented by an equally potent wind jutsu from Shukaku that made the fire burn far hotter and added so much explosive power in to it. The resulting white flames were so hot, seemingly in a plasma-like state, that it reduced everything it touches in to ash.

Temporarily weakening the fabric of space-time, Alex used his powers to tear a rift from which he formed an inter-dimensional conduit that allowed him to teleport in to the sky, high above the island, and away from the great conflagration wrought by the combined powers of two tailed beasts. But it was of little respite as only moments after he materialized more than fifty shadow clones zeroed in on him.

Each clone donned the same Six Path Sage cloak and was connected to each other via chakra telepathy. Receiving their command from the original Naruto, they commenced to strafe and bombard the enemy with elemental blasts.

The night skies burst with deadly colorful flashes and violent explosions as fire, water, wind, earth and lightning was unleashed and synchronized upon Alex, battering the young man's defenses as they impacted on every flank.

At this point the original Naruto, unleashed his true power. His golden shroud of chakra flared up like a soaring flame and from it he molded his battle avatar, an immense titan-like construct of golden Six Path Sage Chakra with six arms and, armored humanoid body and a massive cloak that is actually ten tails melded together but could separate at his command to grapple and strike enemies like tendrils or manifest additional hands to perform additional tasks or jutsu's.

"Our plan is working perfectly. Now for phase two." Naruto said to Kurama and Shukaku, of which both beasts nod in acknowledgement. The shinobi then made a seal of confrontation with his hand while the hands of his battle avatar independently formed **Ox** , **Hare** and **Monkey** hand seals. " **Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu** " He then exclaimed, raising many large, powerful water dragons from the sea below and engendered them to dart towards the young man.

Much to Alex's horror as he saw the sea swell up and then from its blue waters bursts hundreds upon hundreds of serpentine water dragons scurrying at him at supersonic speeds; to make matters worse, he beheld the Bijuus charge and expel full powered blasts of their tailed beast balls, along with the myriad elementally charged **Rasenshuriken's** from Naruto's clones that are flanking him in every direction, making sure there is no escape.

"He is so powerful…there is no way my energy levels can come near his." Alex muttered in awe but as he was about to call it a day he remembered one of Errealth's remark on the underlying weakness of Naruto's fighting style and from it quickly devised a strategy of his own. " _Cutoff the snake's head and the rest of the body will fall."_ He then thought.

Closing his eyes solemnly for a moment Alex saw a fiery rune burn brightly in the darkness, its form writhing like serpents from hell. In truth this rune is the true, unutterable name of the weave from which time flows. Through his innate ability to see the multiple dimensions of time, along with the knowledge and wisdom he received under Errealth's tutelage, the young man then cast the spell, slowing time by a factor of six hundred times its normal flow.

As he opened his eyes once more, a surge of energy pulsed from the incandescently glowing orbs that stilled the waves of the sea and suspended the fleeing birds in the sky. About him was an aura of the darkness and repose of the night which antedated the Earth's creation and decelerated Naruto's speeding attacks in to a snail like pace until they finally grinded to a halt, for indeed the flow of time has been twisted and warped to suit his desires, allowing him to stride with unfathomable swiftness and agility, appearing as an indiscernible blur as he seemed to move at high relativistic speed in the point of view of a person who got caught in the temporal-dilation spell.

Utilizing the more destructive applications of space-time manipulation he then unleashed a temporal distortion. The said distortion manifested in the material plane as a wave of damaging energy that ravaged lesser beings, quickly followed by what looks like electrified billows of shadow-like mist that envelop everything in its path, erasing them from existence.

Now that the clone has been taken care of the young man then set his sight on the original Naruto, who, at that moment was standing above Kurama's head, weaving hand signs. His entire body was still while his hands were forming seals in a pace similar to that of a super-slowmo gesticulation. An impressive speed, noting that the shots fired by the tailed beasts seemed to freeze in their tracks as time flows relatively far slower on their end.

"Errealth, old friend, I will avenge you today." Alex muttered as he flew right for Naruto and prepared to cut the shinobi in half with his ethereal sword.

However, just a mere inch before the attack was about to connect Alex noticed how Naruto's chakra cloak seemed to flicker. Then came what the young man thought as impossible, chakra arms manifested from the said cloak and pummeled him with so great a force that it sent him spiraling to an island below.

"What!" Alex muttered in shock and disbelief as he descended from the sky and finally crash in to the island's beach. At this point he cancelled the temporal-dilation spell to reroute all his energies in to his defenses. One weakness of the young man is that though he himself has formidable power reserves of his own, the majority of the higher magics in his employ are meant for use of the ultipotent outer-god Errealth, and are quite energy intensive for a half-mortal like him. In this instance, he has to disable his defense matrix while casting the temporal dilation spell. This presents another weakness for he can't utilize the most powerful spells in his arsenal at full potency due to the fact of his limited reserves and thus he is constantly forced to choose the best balance between attack and defense at all times.

Opening his eyes, Alex saw the gigantic fist of Naruto's battle avatar descending upon him then impacting on his shield, creating massive bolts of lightning as the shinobi's chakra reacted with his defenses. Then another punch descended after the other, creating more bolts of lightning along with powerful shockwaves while the young man was slowly being buried deeper in to the sand from a crater forming due the immense force of the shinobi's pummeling.

"You bastard! I'll make you pay for killing all those innocent people!" Naruto exclaimed in fury, making sure that every single punch the young man receives is more devastating than the last. "You aint gonna be so pretty once I'm done with you." He then continued as he unleashed hell.

Alex tried to fend the shinobi off with blasts of energy but as the sheer durability of Naruto's battle avatar has ultimately proven his efforts useless.

Coalescing his Truth Seeking Balls, Naruto formed a great double helix sword which his avatar wielded. Then with a great swing of the weapon he broke through the first tier of Alex's defense, engendering a massive shockwave to burst out as the interwoven energy fields and gravitic distortions unraveled.

" _This is bad_ …." Alex thought with eyes fixed on Naruto, channeling significant amounts of his remaining power to the second and third tier of his defenses while at the same time devised a contingency plan for he knew that it would only be a matter of time before the shinobi took them down.

With another great blow from his black chakra sword Naruto struck Alex's barrier but was flabbergasted to see his weapon trapped on the barrier's fold as it made contact then started to get sucked in to another dimension, forcing the shinobi to dismantle his blade back in to individual truth seeking balls.

With his **Rinnegan** Naruto was able to analyze how his enemy's defenses function, and more importantly how to circumvent it. It would seem the secondary barrier protecting Alex is more of a gateway than a shield; a bubble of stable wormhole that serves to transport incoming attacks to a pocket dimension rather than dissipate it. He also hypothesized that sheer force alone wouldn't affect the barrier due to the fact that it isn't a physical object but an inter-dimensional portal that will absorb anything that came in contact.

" _Well this is getting complicated."_ Naruto thought as he slammed an Ōdama Rasengan, only to see it disappear form existence.

"I have an idea that may just work." Shukaku said inside of Naruto's head. His former Jinchuuriki, Gaara, has encountered an enemy before that utilizes space-time barrier jutsus as his favored mode of offense and defense. If Alex's barrier is remotely similar to that then his strategy might just work.

Absorbing all the details from Shukaku's memory along with the tanuki's proposed battle strategy Naruto disabled his battle avatar and concentrated all of his chakra in to his fists which shimmered with golden light.

At this point the glowing of Alex's eyes brightened like two miniature stars going nova as he expanded his barrier in an attempt to trap Naruto within its fold and banish him from the physical plane, casting the shinobi into the pocket dimensional realm of the barrier beyond the material universe where he would suffer a long and horrifying death from starvation or insanity wrought by isolation, whichever comes first.

Naruto however saw through the young man's plan before it was too late. With his amazing speeds he was able to evade the expanding barrier which engulfed a third of the island and carved a small mountain in half.

"I did it?" Alex thought in disbelieving exaltation as he thought to have defeated Naruto. "I did it!" He then gaspingly exclaimed the words once more in a louder rapturous air of a victor.

"Think again you little punk!" Naruto exclaimed as he materialized in front of the young man and brought his fists together, unleashing a blurry of powerful rapid fire punches that gave an illusion of him having multiple fiery arms not only due to the Six Path Sage chakra that coated his fists but also due to the friction and rapid adiabatic compression produced from the sheer speed and force of the punches being released that they set ablaze the air in their path, in a similar principle to how a fire-piston work, only in a far grander and destructive manner.

The air was permeated with a sound similar to that of a Gatling gun firing in a tuneful rhythm as each and every one of Naruto's countless punches produced a distinct booming shockwave that caused Alex's dimensional barrier to ripple like gelatin and fluctuate in a kaleidoscope of colors.

"Impossible" Alex muttered in shock for it would seem that Naruto instinctively knew how to circumvent his defenses.

The dimensional barrier utilized by the demi-god isn't a solid wall but the physical manifestation of a hyper-geometric gateway to another dimension and thus contingent on wave harmonics and frequency oscillation principle to operate. Naruto was able to circumvent this by synchronizing his attacks to the wave's frequency and oscillation interval, causing it to distort and inevitably to collapse under continual bombardment of correctly timed punches.

"Hah! How'd ya like me now you miserable little gremlin." Naruto said as he unleashed the punch that caused Alex's barrier to ripple like a puddle of water then dissipate.

Alex having been exhausted and very much low on energy was as good as finished, the shinobi easily overcame his third and final tier with a couple of solid punches without even flinching from the resultant crimson lightning that lashed the latter upon its collapse.

" _So this is how I would end? Practically beaten to death by the person I hate, in a somewhat unsettlingly rape position…."_ Alex chuckled inside out of despair while ironically physically being battered down by immense pain as Naruto, perching over his chest, gave him the beating of a lifetime. _"…..man, this fight has left me famished. I hope there's a big steak waiting for me in heaven…though it's more than likely that I will just fade away in to nothingness like the others of my kind who have died….It doesn't matter."_ He continued with the thought, strangely craving food before he dies for unlike the shinobi who can passively absorb nature energy he must eat, a lot, in order to replenish the energy he expends.

Then with ponderous efforts from his broken body Alex lifted his head a little to gaze upon the shinobi and with a half-closed eyes he smiled, marveling in respect the power of his opponent.

"What are you smirking at you bag of shit!" Naruto exclaimed in fury, punching the young man in the mouth thinking that the evil little demon is not only making a mockery of him but also felt not an ounce of remorse to all those people who got caught and died from the latter's energy blast.

"Naru…..aghhhh!" Alex knew that he stood no chance, he was about to surrender when the shinobi grabbed one of his antlers, broke it with the latter's raw strength, and then stabbed him in the chest with it. Slowly he closed his eyes and drifted in to the black nothingness of oblivion while all he could think off was Bella and their lives that should've gone but didn't.

" _What if we're the ones who ended up together Bella?"_ Alex thought with a dreamy beam as he imagined it. They would have dated for a few years, bring him to his family's private tropical island retreat in the Philippines where they would have all the fun in the world frolicking in its paradisal beach, then when the moon is full he would bend his knee on the sparkling moonlit sand of its silvery shores and ask her hand in marriage. "If only." He then muttered with a sad smile in dejection as he prepared to meet his fate.

"What are you doing?" A voice said in the pitch black darkness that Alex recognized as Nyarlathotep's. "Are you quite done wallowing in your own self-pity?"

"If it isn't that obvious, I'm dying." Alex sneered. "Can you at least please not mock me in my last moments." He then continued.

"That Naruto, such arrogance from a lowly human. Reveal your true power and turn the battlefield in to an all you can eat buffet." Nyarlathotep said, and though Alex couldn't see him he somehow knew that there's a wide demonic smile on the former's face as he spoke.

"I just did and he overpowered me. Naruto is far ahead of me when it comes to that criterion." Alex said with a begrudging respect for Naruto.

"Enter the 'state'….be one with the universe and you will be empowered with power beyond imagining." Nyarlathotep said eruditely. "You shall be as strong as an outer-god…well a low ranking one power-wise but nonetheless powerful enough to make Naruto regret his insolence.

"I will forever carry in my conscience the thousands of dead because of my recklessness! And because I've listened to you! If I become the conduit of the living universe who knows how much more destruction I would bring." Alex said in melancholy reproof.

"Baaah! Thousands dead? Let them die, you're doing this wretched planet a favor by weeding out the excess population." Nyarlathotep brushed off the latter's statement with a derisive scorn like he was just talking about bricks or manure or any other thing that was of no consequence, and indeed judging from the tenor of his voice it would seem he's implying that humanity is lower than a lone brick or a single heap of manure.

"You make me sick." Alex said with utter contempt for his forefather and the heinous act the latter was forcing him to do.

"Very well child. Look at what will happen if you fail to act." Nyarlathotep said in a resonating voice as he showed Alex a vision of the near future where he could see the lifeless Bella in a pool of her own blood.

"What is this….what's happening! Alex said stutteringly in a nervous voice.

"The monster that will be in Bella's womb has devoured her from the inside out. That will be her faith if you don't act now." Nyarlathotep said with compelling urgency behind a hidden grin on his face knowing that he was already a step closer from achieving his ultimate goal.

 **[To be Continued]**

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 **Hey there folks!**

 **I hope you enjoyed reading!**

 **First of all thanks so much for all the awesome suggestions and inputs, I appreciate them a lot.**

 **How are you awesome people doing! It has been a while since I updated. This actually is one of my most challenging chapter(s) to write. I apologize for the delay and for cutting the story short as it is quite long for a single chapter. But please don't worry I will post its Part-2 soon.**

 **See you next chapter!**

 **Cheerio :)**


	25. Chapter 25: Sanity's Eclipse

**[AN: Chapter Continuation]**

Glowing white eyes opened, accompanied by a massive shockwave of devastating psychic power that spanned a wide radius and flung Naruto at a significant distance. Shedding the wings, fangs and antlers; and regaining back his true and much more human form of a handsome seventeen year old boy, Alex stood up and telekinetically lifted himself in to the air and out of the crater.

" _Such overwhelming power._ _I must utilize it prudently least I be consumed by my own flame."_ Alex thought apprehensively. Suddenly, he heard a slow clap then as he lifted his head he saw Naruto walking towards him with a sinister grin on the shinobi's face.

"So, you still got some fight left in you huh?" Naruto said as he walked towards Alex while the latter paced back. "It would be a shame if you would expire so soon without paying dearly for the atrocity you committed." He then continued, hell-bent on making the young man suffer for destroying Ipanema with his reckless energy blast that resulted in the deaths of many innocent people.

"My power levels have now increased by ten orders of magnitude. Know that once I unleashed this power there will be no turning back, for either of us. Challenge me at your peril." Alex vouchsafed his final warning in a tranquil voice though the shinobi sensed a certain tension and disquietude to it as he spoke, as if the young man was in pain from sustaining an injury or is privy to something he is not letting him on.

Hypothesizing that Alex has expended his last strength from the massive psionic wave earlier, Naruto speculated that the young man was bluffing either to escape or was buying more time to charge a spell.

"I'll take a stab!" Naruto exclaimed, zooming with a confident grin on his face knowing that he has already won the battle as charged with chakra coated fists and proceeded to give the young man a bone shattering punch in the face. Though to his surprise as the punch connected for Alex didn't even flinch, while the bones on the shinobi's hand broke like an ordinary person punching a wall of solid titanium.

"Very well." Alex said coldly as from his glowing eyes shot azure beams of entropy that seemingly made the air scream in agony from its passing.

Naruto was able to avoid them but to his surprise when the beams changed direction, homing at him then connected; hitting him in the upper torso that caused him to be envelop in a strange energy that seemed to have vaporized him with a bright flash of white light.

The next thing he knew he was in space, more accurately in a geostationary orbit, thirty five thousand kilometers above Earth.

"What just happened?" Naruto muttered in bewilderment as he felt the coldness of the void though he remained well and unharmed due to his chakra cloak protecting him from the vacuum of space. At this point the shinobi decided to summon his battle avatar once more, reforming his Six Path Sage chakra cloak in to a gigantic humanoid construct.

Out of the blue however, Naruto beheld as Alex manifested like a stray thought that has been given form. Once again he underwent some sort of transformation. The hue on his skin turned golden, as if he was a statue carved by a master sculptor from the renaissance out of a large piece of gold monolith. While all around him radiated an aura of energy that renders his form somewhat hazy and indistinct, as if the young man was not completely corporeal.

In truth by being empowered by the unfathomable cosmic energies of the universe Alex has ascended to a being of pure energy, a liminal entity that exists half in one plane of existence, half in another. The golden membrane that has now plated his skin is actually shards of crystalized time that not only blocks all incoming enemy attacks, regardless of power and strength, but also allows him multiple abilities such as to see his opponents attack before they happened and multiple possible outcomes it may engender as it happens and after it happened; another is it causes reality to shift around him; perspective and geometry twist out of phase until it is impossible to tell the difference between up and down as an enemy stares at his reflection on the golden armor. At this state he also gained the ability to completely freeze the flow of time as compared to merely slowing it down.

On the ground Naruto always takes constant care not to use too much of his power to limit the collateral damage and fear of getting innocent bystanders caught in the destruction. Though being tossed in to space by Alex has freed him of such limitations and opened the doors for the shinobi to unleash the full venom of his wrath. "You just made the worst possible mistake of your life fairy boy." He then said telepathically with a derisive grin on his face as he decided to utilize his most powerful jutsu.

From the arms of his avatar Naruto formed **Wind Release: Ultra-Big Ball Rasenshuriken** and **Tailed Beast Ball Rasenshuriken** , both infused with natural energy. Then with a grin he hurled both vortexes of whirling destruction upon the young man.

"One of us did." Alex retorted in a composed and indifferent manner as he extended his hand, and with an exertion of mental strength telekinetically nullified Naruto's attacks as both the **Wind Release: Ultra-Big Ball Rasenshuriken** and **Tailed Beast Ball Rasenshuriken** seemingly stopped on their tracks, violently warped and stretched like a sheet of rubber before they dissipated in to the cold emptiness of the void.

"What…" Naruto gasped in shock as he saw his opponent just shrugged off the most potent jutsu in his arsenal. "What just happened?" He then muttered in disbelief.

"My turn." Alex said impassively and in a flat emotionless voice as he materialized behind him and with a flick of his wrist manipulated the fundamental forces of the universe to forcibly drive the still dazed shinobi in a direct collision course to the moon, at a faster-than-light velocity.

Naruto tried to escape however he found it quite impossible due to the massive inertia that held him in place, unable to move; along with the fact of time-dilation due to the extreme speeds from which he traveled has made time slower from a perception of an observer outside the effect.

The impact was visible to Earth as a brief unnoticeable flash and seemingly insignificant but on a much closer perspective it was a far more violent sight. Unlike Earth, the moon doesn't have an atmosphere to slow down and burn incoming objects and thus the ludicrously fast moving Naruto in his battle avatar impacted with so great a force that he pummeled in to the moon's surface creating a massive crater and actually chipping a very small section of the planetoids surface. These fragments, the biggest of which is a floating space rock the size of a small mountain, were hurled in to space which then drawn by the Earht's gravitational pull.

Even with the protection of his battle avatar Naruto was significantly injured and found himself drifting along with the other lunar debris. Turning his gaze to his arm he saw blood leaching from the wound and floating in to the zero gravity of space from which it then boiled away due to the extremely low pressure.

"I'm not done with you yet." Alex said as he suddenly appeared out of the blue. He grasped Naruto's face in his left palm and forcibly drove him into and through the floating debris of rocks that has once been a part of the moon; then continued to push the shinobi back with a massive burst of iridescent golden energy that burst like a giant rocket, propelling them with faster than light speed across the void between Luna and Earth; using the shinobi's body to crush every obstacle in their way, until they were once again back into geostationary earth orbit, all the while crushing the blonde's head in his grip.

At his command, Naruto called upon his Truth Seeking Balls to once again combine and form in to a sword which he swung at the young man, but to his surprise when his weapon just passed harmlessly through the latter's body.

With a backhanded slap Alex then sent Naruto tumbling in to space. "You're ego carried you too high." He then said in a cold telepathic voice. Though the shinobi sensed something wrong with the former, as if deep inside, a sickness is slowly eating him.

"Pretty good. You're the only person able to force me like this in a long time….but you're crazy if you think you stand a chance against a shinobi of the hidden leaf!" Naruto exclaimed as he prepared to go in to a berserkers rage and tear the young man apart but he soon found out that he can't move for he was bound by a magical ethereal chain.

"What's wrong have you decided to cease your attack Naruto? Alex said with a mocking grin on his face. "If so, then I shall bring the battle to you." He then continued, cupping his right hand and gracefully raising it to the heavens that caused the very space to tear itself open, and from the rifts crackled massive blazes of lightning that smote right through Naruto's battle avatar.

"Arghh!" Naruto screamed for the pain was unfathomable. Like the worst pain one has ever had multiplied by a factor of a thousand.

"Today you shall pay the price for murdering my friend." Alex said with a sharp angry voice as his glowing eyes narrowed at Naruto.

"You're friend killed everyone I knew!" Naruto lashed out. "If it's all up to me, I will kill him a thousand times for every life he took." He then continued, glaring at the young man with such intensity that it seemingly taken the latter aback.

"Do you know the truth why Errealth destroyed the elemental nations?" Alex said coldly, the expression on his face was that of a detached being, distant and uncaring to the pain he invoked upon Naruto.

Hearing this Naruto clenched his teeth though strangely he did not say a word, wanting to hear what the young man is about to say though he was aware that it wouldn't be pleasant.

"Judging by that look in your eye, you are hungry for answers. That's why you didn't cut me off with one of your crude remarks. Am I right?" Alex smirked with a mocking scorn then looked at Naruto with a knowing gleam in his eye that implies he is well aware of a dark secret that the shinobi is oblivious about. "I will tell you, and you must understand if you can." He then continued while the shinobi threw him a sharp and fierce glare.

"The world created by Hagoromo is a failure. Chakra has become a disease that consumed the mind and soul of whomever it has afflicted. For thousands of years the denizens of the elemental nations used it as a weapon of war and for petty squabbles of greed, pride and outright blood thirst. Errealth was dismayed as he observed from the heavens your people's capacity for bloodshed and how they are slowly destroying the Earth. Seeing the humans he had loved more than anything else kill each other in cold blood and desecrate the very planet that cradled the species and gave it life he had no choice but to intervene, to scour the Earth in order to cleanse it of chakra. Errealth has never attacked your people out of malice, he was doing his responsibility as a protector; pruning away the infected lands so that the disease would not spread, and so that in time the world will once again bloom and the humans who inhabit it prosper. Why he spared the likes of you, I do not know."

"And you expect me to believe that?" Naruto sneered. Though in truth the demigod's revelation struck a chord deep inside him and stirred an innominable vortex of emotions that made him ponder, and indeed his subconscious mind was telling him that what the latter spoke was everything but a lie.

"I don't care what you believe." Alex said coldly with an equally indifferent tranquil countenance on his face. "The foolish sentiment of a dying obsolete warrior from a forgotten bygone era is irrelevant to me. Believe what you will for it is the only thing that will give you solace on your way to hell." He then continued in the same manner.

"Liar!" Naruto exclaimed, brushing off the young man's statements.

"Reality hurts, doesn't it?" Alex said as he laughed in a deep metallic cachinnation of a preternatural being.

At this point Naruto noticed the drastic change in the young man's demeanor. The shinobi hypothesized that some dormant aspect of Errealth's personality is awakened or amplified when Alex is in such a state, mainly his arrogance and powerful indifference.

The truth however is far simpler, he has gone insane. Though part outer-god, for all intents and purposes, Alex is still very much human, and wielding the incalculable energies of the living universe that he harnesses and channels through his body as a catalyst has caused him to quickly descend in to madness.

"What? now you'll give me a grand speech on how you're gonna kill me? Think you can? Give me all you got you miserable little punk!" Naruto roared adamantly in defiance. Like a true shinobi he preferred to give fate the finger rather than simply succumb in despair. With all his strength he then broke free of the ethereal chains binding him then with all his power rushed to the enemy in a golden blaze of glory.

Seeing this, Alex furrowed his brow and put on a face of deep and serious contemplation. However, it didn't take too long before a nasty grin emanated from the countenance of his face. "Behold the almighty powers of creation." He then said in a cold reverberating voice as seven micro-universes were called in to being by his new found reality-warping powers.

These artificial universes looped on his open palm akin to electrons orbiting the nucleus of an atom; and at his command he made them coalesce in to a single pulsating amorphous oscillation that became more and more unstable by the second from the unimaginable energies released by the chain reaction.

As the micro-universes collided with each other they were immediately destroyed, releasing unfathomable amounts of energy that is being held together by a barrier created by the demigod around it. Interestingly, these energies engender short lived nano-universes to form and collapse instantly, adding more power to the already chaotic flurry of energies they were birthed from. In return, this creates a cycle of creation and annihilation as smaller and smaller universes are formed and destroyed, exponentially energizing the original reaction.

At Alex's injunction the unimaginable destructive power of dimensional dissonance was set loose upon Naruto that took the form of a cascading colossal fulgurous beam of such intensity that its brightness alone illuminated half of the globe and temporarily dispelled the darkness of the night with light measured in quintillions of lumens, millions of times brighter than the rays of a million suns that those unfortunate enough to gaze upon the light instantly collapsed where they stood, permanently blinded as their retinas burned from receiving so much energy; while satellites were knocked out of orbit if not directly destroyed from a massive burst of energy shockwave as the beam traveled and burned its way through any obstacles.

The raging torrent of undiluted destruction quickly engulfed the shinobi before he could react, forcing him to be brutally pushed back downwards to the Earth's atmosphere, surging at extremely high speed as the said beam blasted him while the planet's gravity pulled him down.

Even with his battle avatar on full power, the shinobi could feel the immense punishment as heat upon heat, along with obscene pressure wave smote right through the golden construct of chakra. He covered his eyes from the immense effulgent glare but could feel his hands burning. First it felt like a slight tingling in his arms and palm but it wasn't long before the sensation worsened in to an intolerable degree of agony. He could feel his flesh burning, crisping, and charring then crumbling off his bones.

Finally the beam descended into the Earth's inner atmosphere then soon impacted the ground near Puerto Tolima in Colombia, near the Brazillian border; producing a massive explosion mankind has ever seen.

The ensuing fireball was a hundred miles in radius visible from space like a blooming crimson flower of pure devastation that ignited the air and fused the ground, and turned to ash every living being touched by its petals of scorching heat.

The earth trembled with seismic shock, along with a deafening explosion and a cloud of dust and extremely hot gases that formed from the explosion. In just under a second these hot gases expanded, creating a gigantic moving wall of air traveling at incredible speeds and smashed through everything in its path; this extremely powerful blast wave is such that it was strong enough to be measured on its tenth passing around the globe.

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(Puerto Tolima – Colombia)

Azure eyes slowly opened, with hazy vision Naruto realized that he was lying on a riven and tilted heat blackened pavement. His mental processes were benumbed and painful, and confused to the last degree. With great effort he pushed himself to rise only to realize that his left arm was no more and half of his face was seared, but nonetheless he could still fight. Indeed his injuries were just a minor horror to what he saw next.

"What the hell…." Naruto muttered in shock for it was hell indeed. The entire landscape now resembled the stereotype of a fiery world of eternal damnation, filled with rivers of liquid fire, molten rock, ash hills, smoking pits, all wracked by tremors and earthquakes. He also saw massive glowing blobs of horrifying heat that was once proud and mighty mountains, and from them oozed rivers of less viscous molten stream that was once the metallic minerals of which veins were hidden deep beneath the mountains core.

As he raised his head he saw an aurora in the burning sky that was like a magnificent emerald arras that hanged from the hall of the gods in Valhalla. The said light show was an effect due to the obscene amounts of electromagnetic energy saturating the atmosphere around the vast area of the explosion's radius. Disconcertingly, there was also a strange hissing or crackling sound from the heavens caused by charged particles in an inversion layer of the atmosphere that formed as a side effect.

Out of sudden, Naruto beheld as the stars in the sky seemingly brighten and flicker in a strobe like configuration, finally expanding by the moment like spheres of bluish-white radiance.

Only then that the shinobi realized that these were not stars but energy blasts unleashed from the heavens by Alex. Naruto saw the first of them approaching, there were twelve in total coming at him fast.

"Kurama, Shukaku….I need your help guys." Naruto said in a weary voice that reflected only his unwavering tenacity as a shinobi of the hidden leaf.

"You got it kid!" Both Kurama and Shukaku answered Naruto's call in unison.

With help from the Bijuus, Naruto converted the six of his seven truth-seeking balls into **Tailed Beast Balls** , and adds wind-natured chakra to create shuriken-like blades around them then hurled them high in the sky, in an interception course to the speeding energy bolts.

As the two attacks meet the resulting explosion was unsurprisingly devastating. Naruto's **Bijūdama Rasenshuriken** dwarfs regular **Tailed Beast Balls** in raw power while each of Alex's energy bolts exploded with force roughly parallel to that of a one megaton nuclear explosion.

"Impressive." Alex said telepathically that reverberated inside of Naruto's head like an eerie echoing voice that issued from the heavens. "But how about the other ones?" He then said in the same manner and with such a maniacal glee that the shinobi could hear his demented cachinnation.

Slowly, Naruto lifted his head above and saw more bolts of azure energy, millions upon millions of them, descending from the heavenly firmaments like radiant down pouring rainstorm of destruction. Such is the nerve paralyzing fear that these harbingers of destruction preceded that the crimson and ochre of the burning sky and the emerald of the aurora that dangled from it was quickly superseded by a wan unearthly azure glow.

"Naruto, we must get out of here." Kurama said inside of the shinobi's head, of which Naruto concurred. However, to their horror when they realized that they couldn't **Hiraishin** out of danger for Alex has greatly strengthened the fabric of spacetime in the area, making teleportation all but impossible.

"We must take it and survive!" Shukaku cried, lending Naruto more of his chakra.

Utilizing the last truth seeking ball on his back Naruto formed a spherical barrier then called upon the other black balls of chakra to come to him and do the same in a layered configuration. Subsequently, with Shukaku's help he engendered the scorched stones to be crushed in to sand and draw from them the hardest minerals of which he compressed under extreme pressure to form a virtually indestructible miniature replica of the tanuki that encapsulated the barrier in its body for additional protection. While deep inside his seemingly indomitable defenses the shinobi focused all his Six Path Sage chakra to create a golden armor of condensed chakra around his body for good measure.

After a short interim, the first azure bolt from the second wave of energy blasts impacted, exploding with a kilometer wide fireball; soon after the others followed, scouring the ground clean with their touch of concentrated annihilation.

The earth trembled as millions upon millions of energy blasts descended upon it. Even deep within his reinforced stronghold Naruto could feel in all his tissues the painful pulsing of the thunderous vibration as the bolts pounded the upper half of South America.

For twenty six sanity-shattering and horror filled minutes the massive explosions reverberated like Titans beating macro-cosmic drums in a grand requiem of obliteration.

The aftermath of it was less than pleasing to the eye either. It was hell on earth in both literal and figurative sense for the total damage wrought by the demigod's attacks were approximately similar to that of a three and a half teraton explosion, or more than twenty seven million times more powerful than the bombs dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined.

It caused massive shockwaves across the continent, which resulted in magnitude 10 earthquakes and waves of lava to spill out of the planetary crust from a massive and deep depression produced by the initial beam attack, while all around it were smaller smoldering scattershot craters that stretched from Nicaragua to Paraguay killing millions of people, as in his insanity, Alex advertised his discontent far and wide.

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There was nothing but darkness and the ice cold touch of the river Styx as Naruto seemed to float away in to empty and desolate regions of his own subconscious. He had lived for quite some time now in this brave new era since he awakened from his ten millennia long hibernation in 1855. There was a feeling of weariness, as well as that of emptiness in his soul that the idea of death was seemingly a good prospect to welcome. Then, as he was just about to give up and let himself be taken away by the gushing currents of the underworld something happened, something not short of a miracle.

"Hey no fare Buroto!" In the opaque blackness of his mind Naruto heard a voice, it was of a little girl's.

"Catch me if you can Himawari!" He heard another voice, this time it seemed to belong to a boy playfully teasing his younger sibling.

"Buruto, Himawari…stop running all around the kitchen one of you might get hurt." The third voice said in a gentle maternal tone. This voice was familiar to Naruto, it was Leah's. Though the shinobi must admit, it was weird hearing her in such a loving and motherly tenor, not the hot blooded woman she usually is, or used to be at least.

With the full strength of all his mental faculties Naruto forced his lids up to give way to his azure eyes. The glare of light was uncomfortable at first for someone who seemed to have slept for so long but as his sight adjusted to the brightness he found himself in a cozy house, sitting in a dinner table having his breakfast and reading his morning paper while about him was two cute children.

The first one whom he identified as Buruto is a spikey haired blonde blue eyed boy that much resembles himself when he was younger, even to the loud, energetic and stubborn personality. But nonetheless he can sense the boy is extremely loyal to his family and friends, and deeply cares for them despite the mischievous pranks he always pulls, mostly at their expense.

The other one, the girl named Himawari is a cheerful, considerate, and kind-hearted individual. She has blue eyes like that of Naruto's along with a fair white skin and dark-blue hair that mostly resembled a member of the Hyuga Clan rather than a Quileute, though this is unsurprising given that Leah is Hinata's reincarnate.

"Naruto…." He then heard Leah called the shinobi in a sweet and gentle voice but was too distracted looking at the children.

" _Are they my kids?"_ He then asked himself with a smile on his face though he already knew the answer to that question.

"Naruto" Leah once again called the shinobi by name, though this time her voice broke through the latter's deep contemplation.

Naruto turned her gaze and saw her wife Leah, she has a longer hair now, wearing an apron and looking more beautiful than ever. "Ah, yeah." The shinobi then babbled incoherently looking at Leah, whom he speculated to be his wife now as he noticed the gold wedding rings on both their fingers.

"…..I said would you like more coffee?" Leah asked holding a coffee kettle, giving Naruto a weird look.

"Yes please." Naruto smiled in gladness, wanting the cozy and heartwarming moment to not end if it is but a dream.

"Is there a problem Naruto? You seem a little distracted." Leah inquired in a concerned voice.

"No." Naruto chuckled sheepishly. "I can't just believe we're married now, and parents too." He then continued in a hollow but joy filled voice.

"They grow up so fast don't they?" Leah supplemented, while a soft smile emanated from her lips, gazing upon Buroto and Himawari waving at them goodbye as they went to school.

"They certainly do." Naruto said, smiling as well. "Ya'know, the kids are out and I don't really have to go to work until…..uhmm…..who gives a damn when. The point is we could fool around a little bit." He then said mischievously.

"Naruto!" Leah said, prinking herself while her cheeks blush a little. With powerful arms the shinobi then swept her off her feet then carried her to their room where he kissed her torridly as he gently laid her on the bed.

The kissing got more and more intense as Naruto removed his shirt and quickly stripped down nude, exposing his rippling muscles and bulging manhood. He then tore Leah's clothes off then took her hand and made her caress his sculpted body from his muscular chest to his defined abs and then a bit lower to the nine inch of meat that is his pride, all without breaking the kiss, and indeed it only intensified some more.

Naruto's hands then caressed Leah's breasts with artful stroke while his other hand traveled south. _"Wow is she working out or something? Her body is really chiseled. I think my hand stumbled on a six pack on the way down to her treasure trove."_ Naruto thought as he kissed her in the lips, going down to her neck. Out of sudden the blonde abruptly stopped while his azure eyes widened.

"Is there something wrong Naruto?" Leah asked with a confounded countenance on her face as Naruto suddenly succumb to mute-like silence.

Gradually, Naruto's lost ability to vocalize words and assemble them in to speech came back to him. Then without looking at Leah he spoke in a voice that was trembling with shock and consternation from a seemingly huge predicament that suddenly popped up. "Leah, why do you have a penis? And why is it bigger than mine?" He then asked, sweating like a whore in church.

"I knew you like me." Said a pleasantly melodic but trolling voice that wasn't Leah's but quite uncomfortably familiar.

Hearing this Naruto immediately froze then after some interim slowly lifted his head only to see that it was Alex with a cheeky grin carved on his face.

"Surprise!" Alex exclaimed trollishly that horrified Naruto to the point that the word 'mind fuck' is no longer good enough to describe the nightmare in steroids he's in.

"Wha….Wha!…..wahhhhhhhhhhhh!" Naruto screamed in horror as he jumped out of the bed. Rubbing his eyes in hopes that when he opened them again everything would have evaporated to oblivion but it was of no use for the young man was still there when he opened them, and this time he was laughing like crazy, finding the shinobi's torment very funny."Aaaaaaaaaaahhhh!" The shinobi then wailed in a pitch that was quite rare to be heard from a man.

Suddenly the entire landscape before him seemingly cracked and then shatters like a glass blown in to incalculable shards by the cyclonic forces of night and destruction. He then found himself falling on a bottomless abyss while blackness and illimitable emptiness seemed to wrap him round in a dizzy swirl.

Naruto felt as if he was falling down with the wreck of shattered worlds in a roaring sea of vortical space and force, descending into some intra-dimensional pit, some ultimate limbo to which the shards of forgotten suns and systems are flung. Then, after a measureless interval, there came the sensation of violent impact, as if his soul crashed viciously back to his body.

He could feel the scorching heat from the environment, he could feel the arching pain from his bodily injuries, he could feel his blood slowly gushing from his wounds, and it made him feel weakened.

It seemed to require the labors of a Titan to lift his lids, and his body and limbs were heavy, as if they had been turned to some denser element than human flesh, or had been subjected to the gravitation of a black hole.

Though afraid of what horrible abominations waiting for him on the other side Naruto courageously opened his eyes. With hazy vision he saw the barren molten landscape, the hell hole oozing with lava from the planet's core, and most of all he saw that he no longer have a left harm and he could no longer feel his legs.

"Oh god, this is so much better." Naruto breathed a deep sigh of relief. Anything is better compared to the ineffable terror he has been so sadistically exposed to. Then suddenly, as he lifted his head he saw a pair of incandescently glowing eyes looking back at him, its owner stood or rather floated invertedly in a parallel position to his own.

"Hello!" Alex greeted in a jovial and somewhat puerile tone. Looking at the shinobi with glowing white eyes that reflected a mind being consumed by a violent raging madness. "Did you like the dream? I made it myself. If I only knew earlier that your mind is this pliable then I should've created a scenario where you were being violated by a thousand demons." He then chuckled blamelessly as he casually floated all around Naruto whom he telekinetically lifted from the scorched ground.

"You're a psychopath…" With half-masted eyes Naruto ponderously muttered in utter contempt as he spat on Alex's face.

To this Alex snickered maniacally as he squeezed the flesh of the still bleeding wound on Naruto's shoulder but the shinobi desisted flinching from the pain. "Yes, your torments have driven me in to insanity. I merely wanted to live a peaceful life and perhaps prove myself and earn your friendship one day…..but I was a fool then. You made sure that I realize in the harshest possible way that such things are impossible for even my very existence is a heinous transgression to you, an affront to your delicately nurtured sensibilities." He then said that caught the shinobi's attention.

"You tormented me night and day. You killed my friend then you turned my other friends against me. But that wasn't enough for you, it wasn't horrible enough so you then decided to alienate me from the woman I love….do you have any idea how it is like to be hated, to be alone? While the loneliness and anguish nibble at your soul and on your sanity little by little until finally you can no longer take the pain but still you have to because you have no choice! Of course you don't. You are mister popularity, the center of the universe. Why did I even bother to ask?" Alex said in a voice that was hollow and somber, it wasn't the ramblings of a deranged lunatic but rather the angered and despairing inner thoughts of a pained individual that, due to the onset of insanity, finally burst out where it was deeply hidden.

For a moment Naruto's contempt was eclipsed with pity for Alex was wrong; the shinobi was well aware of how it is to be alone and hated for that's how he lived his entire childhood, surrounded by people who view him with disdain for something he never chose. He wanted to speak, to tell him he knew very well what he's going through and he can help him, but perhaps out of fear or pride, no words came out of his mouth.

After a short interim of silence Naruto was finally able to form words and utter them as he regained some of his composure. "You are many things, many annoying things but you're not this monster. Snap out of it!" He said in a much calmer voice, trying to appeal to the young man's better senses that still haven't been eroded by madness.

"You…forced me to become a monster Naruto." Alex muttered somberly, then after a while burst in to an evil laughter, dashing Naruto's hope that there is still some sanity left in the young man. "It's like you're Dr. Frankenstein and I'm the monster you created."

Alex continued to laugh from his own twisted statement, finding it very funny in his deranged state of mind as he moved his face uncomfortably close to that of his counterpart. Then like a child, a demented child, he ran his bloody hand on one side of Naruto's face, smearing it with the shinobi's own crimson life essence.

"Aw shucks Naruto…you made me say all those sissy stuff around all these dead people." Alex whispered to Naruto as he leaned through the latter's ear in a somewhat childishly affectionate manner. "Do you want to know a secret?" He then cooed, curling his finger on the shinobi's spikey golden hair.

"I'd rather not….but what the hell." Naruto concurred albeit hesitantly, buying more time for him to accumulate more chakra and devise a strategy to defeat the latter.

"The ramen house you frequently visit at Port Angeles, do you know the secret ingredient of their miso ramen that you're so crazy about?" Alex said in a voice that while still that of a crazy person penetrated the shinobi's soul deeply.

" _Well, if I'm gonna die today at least I'll know one of the world's greatest mysteries."_ Naruto thought, feeling some life ran back to his worn out body, he has never been so happy, though off course he has to project a countenance of a calm battle hardened warrior. "Fine, hit me." He then continued with an outwardly solemn expression on his face.

"It's rat crap!" Alex chortled in a weird, snorting open mouth laugh, similar to that of a stoner high on hashish. "That dreary eatery is infested with rodents and they defecate on the stock pots every night, the lazy staff don't even bother to clean them up…..that extra umami punch of the broth, yeah that came from the rats' furry backdoor."

"Ughh…..ughh.." Naruto groaned for the revelation not only seemingly amplified the pain of his injuries but also faded all the colors of his world in to gray, not to mention turn his stomach upside down.

"Like I said earlier, reality hurts." Alex said to Naruto, chuckling some more.

"Fuck you!" Naruto lashed out in anger.

"Yes….now that you know my rage and my pain I shall share them with you." Alex said in an eerily calm voice as from his lips emanated a demonic smile. "Die now, knowing that after I'm done with you and your family, I'll turn my attention to Leah…" He then continued but was cutoff as Naruto suddenly thrashed out with rage after hearing him.

"Don't you dare touch her you insane son of…argh…." Naruto exclaimed an unrestrained roar of fury but was cutoff as Alex psionically crushed his vocal chords.

"Ssshh…ssshh…sshh…I'm not done talking yet….don't you know it's rude to interrupt people when they're still talking." Alex said in a twistedly gentle and blameless voice, tilting his head a little to better see the shinobi as he coughed out blood and gasped from the difficulty of breathing due to the recent injury that was inflicted upon him. "As I was saying, after I'm done with you and the Cullen's I will turn my attention to Leah and to the child in her womb."

Hearing the last part of the young man's statement Naruto's eyes widened. "A child? In her womb? Mine?" He then thought. In some strange way, that tiny glimmer of hope assuaged his torment before the full gravity of his current predicament quelled that spark of future happiness in both a literal and figurative sense as a rift has now opened beneath his feet and from it emanated a strange pull, and the shinobi felt that the area where he was suspended from was slowly descending in to the void.

"Ah yes, you still don't know it yet. I forgot." Alex said in a mocking and derisive manner.

To this Naruto stared at the young man, confounded and at the same time meditative, analyzing if Alex was telling the truth while a drop of his blood raced from his forehead, in to his eye, and finally ran through his face like a crimson tear.

"Seriously dude, it's like you're the last one to ever know. How dense can you be? Alex said, laughing from the awkward hilarity of it all. "But yes, it's all true…it's a boy by the way, though I suppose it won't matter anyway….since I'll incinerate both mother and child in a short while." He then continued, speaking softly with an evil demonic smile on his face as he affectionately hugged Naruto with the childlike enthusiasm of a dangerous sociopath.

Naruto threw Alex an angry glare. _"Stay away from them. This is between the two of us, they have nothing to do with this you batshit crazy bastard!" He_ groaned madly, wanting to shout every word to his mentally unbalanced opponent but his voice reeds were crushed by the latter.

"What was that?" Alex said, rearing his ear to Naruto's bleeding mouth as if to hear him better, though this was just a mockery wrought by lunacy for he was perfectly able to read the shinobi's thought through telepathy. "It's not enough to just kill them? You want me to also completely obliterate their souls? Well, that's a little too much I think but, okay…they will live for weeks and weeks, in a long and extremely agonizing existence then afterwards, when I grow weary of their begging for death, only then will I extinguish their lives and snuff their very souls as per your last request. It will be…..exquisite!"

"No! Please, don't do this!" Naruto groaned again in protest, this time wilder than the last, practically begging for Leah and their unborn child's life to be spared.

"Goodbye old sport." Alex said in a soft but singularly penetrating voice as he let go of his hug and relinquished Naruto in to the dark rift.

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"Damn" Naruto muttered with a smirk as he tumbled down for quite a while now in to the emptiness of the void. The flickering chakra cloak has protected him from the vacuum of space but not forever as he felt getting weaker and weaker by the moment.

"So this is how I would die huh? He then continued brooding with half closed eyes. Suddenly he felt something or some force is violently pulling him; as he shifted his gaze he realized that he was in the lethal grasp of a voracious cosmic destruction.

In his deranged sadism, Alex decided that it would be funny to jettison Naruto in to the center of the Milky Way where there is a supermassive black hole devouring everything within the spear of its influence.

The black hole itself is quite far even by stellar standards but its immense power could be felt nonetheless. Soon, the gravitational pull and the tidal forces around the shinobi grew inescapably and what few light reaching him was bent as he was pulled closer and closer in to the event horizon.

Even at such distance the shinobi could see the monstrous cataclysm as it fed on several stars and devoured what's left of their shattered worlds. He beheld how streams of glowing stellar matter swirled in the roaring sea of vortical space and force that was its accretion disk, before descending violently and inevitably swallowed by the singularity, from which there is no return. It was a frightening sight but strangely stunningly beautiful as well.

Naruto felt the racking pulls of the tidal forces becoming stronger and its grip absolute. He closed his eyes and prepared to meet his doom as in his mind flashed the story of his life. He saw that winter day when he first met Hinata; his days in the academy; that day when he became a part of team Kakashi along with Sasuke and Sakura; their first mission to the Land of Waves; along with the recent memories of his new found family, the Cullens, and of his new found love, Leah. Every picture of his memory flashed so vividly, so full of color and splendor that it slowly restored his broken will and led him to make a choice.

Azure orbs suddenly snapped open. "Not today!" He said with such tenacious conviction while his flickering chakra cloak once again soared with great golden intensity as rippled patterns appeared in his now purple glowing eyes.

Subsequently, something unexpected happened. From his forehead opened a third eye with red sclera and irise, along with a ripple pattern spreading over the eyeball and nine tomoe. He has just awakened the **Rinne Sharingan** , and at the same time the battered Kurama and Shukaku have also awakened from their deep slumber within his mind.

Naruto could feel every cell in his body reacting to his new found power as his injuries heal with ungainly swiftness due to cell division forcibly stimulated by vast amounts of strong and potent chakra flowing within him.

This, coupled by his natural regenerative abilities he genetically inherited as a member of the Uzumaki Clan has revitalized his body, reconstructing all damaged organs and tissues similar to that of Tsunade's **Creation Rebirth** jutsu but evidently more powerful as the stump that used to be his left appendage instantly regenerated a new and stronger arm.

"What happened kid?" Kurama inquired, dazed. The last thing he remembered was when they formed barriers around them and braced for impact then everything when in to oblivion from that point.

"Yeah, what happened?" Shukaku supplemented.

"Well, it would seem that we're back on business boys!" Naruto exclaimed with great enthusiasm as he used the power of his **Rinne Sharingan** to cast **Yomotsu Hirasaka** , opening a portal to Earth so that he could deal with the insane demigod once and for all.

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(Isle Esme – Brazil)

 _We lay my love and I beneath the weeping willow._

 _But now alone I lie and weep beside the tree._

 _Singing 'Oh willow waly' by the tree that weeps with me._

 _Singing 'Oh willow waly' till my lover return to me._

 _We lay my love and I beneath the weeping willow._

 _A broken heart have I. Oh willow I die, oh willow I die._

Alex sang eerily like a deranged agent of annihilation while Edward screamed in pain as he leisurely carved the vampire with his psionic powers that manifested as blasts of ghostly lightning-like energy that sheared his victim's atomic bonds, literally stripping his body apart atom by atom and molecule by molecule very slowly, making sure that the latter suffers unimaginable agony that would kill an ordinary human in seconds if exposed to the same ordeal, not from the injury itself but from shock as the sadistic flaying is incredibly painful beyond normal mortal threshold.

Out of the blue Alex was suddenly cutoff his sadistic activities as he suddenly found himself in a lava-filled wasteland. Turning his gaze, he saw a large volcano spewing up molten rocks and beside it is a construct that looked very much like a citadel. In truth Naruto, through his **Rinne Sharingan** , has utilized **Amenominaka** to teleport Alex in this dimension not only to stave him off from causing more destruction but also because he can instantly rewrite all aspects of the said dimension in battle, giving him a much needed edge against such a psychotic but extremely powerful opponent.

"Come out Naruto, I can see that you learned new tricks, it won't help you. It wouldn't change a thing." Alex said sniggering, as if all of this is just a game to him. "I'm starting to think you're refusing the gift of death that I'm giving you. You're hurting my feelings you know." He then said like a pouty child as his mind was continuously warped by the power he wields.

"This will be your prison now." Naruto said sagaciously as he decided to reveal himself to the young man.

"Ha! I see you Na…." Alex exclaimed with rapturous exhilaration but wasn't able to finish his sentence as Naruto, utilizing **Yomotsu Hirasaka** opened a portal directly behind the young man and kicked him brutally in to the lava. The jutsu's speed along with the shinobi's inhuman swiftness is such that even Alex who, in his current state, has the power to see the near future wasn't seemingly able to react.

"Didn't see that coming did you!" Naruto said exuberantly as he engendered the searing rocks to seal the fiery lake where Alex has fallen then slammed his hand to the ground. Sealing formulas then spread from the shinobi's palm and in to a vast area and sealed those unlucky enough to be in its fold. "It's finally over." He then sighed.

"I did see it coming actually." Alex said perched on a nearby rock, leaning on Naruto's ear, much to the shock of the shinobi. "But the question is did you see this coming." He then continued, pointing at the ethereal lance piercing the shinobi's chest.

"What…when did he..." Naruto muttered in a hollow voice as he just felt the sharp corrosive sting in his chest.

"Like I said earlier, it wouldn't change a thing." Alex said as the shinobi screamed in pain, desperately trying to remove the weapon impaling him but to no avail. The elegantly slender, translucent crystal like lance seems to be a construct of glowing azure ethereal matter. It is coated in fiery bluish-white energy that crackles and arcs lightning to the ground and in to its unfortunate victim causing much agony.

"But how did you…" Naruto gasped, confounded on how the latter landed the attack without him noticing a thing.

"It's simple really." Alex said as he evaporated from where he stood then materialized some distance away with another ethereal lance in hand. Without warning he hurled his weapon contra-parallel to the shinobi with great force; forming shockwaves in the air and warping the space where it travelled before vanishing on to the very spot where the latter was struck earlier. "I can call an attack from the future to aid my present self in battle….or past self if we go by the technical chronological definition." He then explained, smirking in amusement at the sight of the shocked countenance on Naruto's face.

"What a cheap sideshow trick." Naruto scoffed.

"You know, that third eye of yours is kinda bothering me for a while now. It's like you have a nasty case of pink eye. Let's close it shall we." Alex said with a demonic smile carved deeply in his face as he branded on Naruto's forehead a glowing esoteric rune that dampened the shinobi's powers and sealed the **Rinne Sharingan**.

"Then we will die here together." Naruto smirked derisively with a revenant grin on his face. "The only difference is I would die sooner, while you will linger here for who knows how long….this will be your prison, and you will stay here forever." Though the shinobi was in pain he laughed mockingly at the young man until another bolt of lightning from the lance silenced his laughter in to a groan.

Hearing this Alex laughed hard, pounding the ground out of amusement. "Oh, you silly beaver." He said as he sobered up a little. "I can't believe you're this stupid!" He then continued chuckling in an insulting manner as if reveling in a joke that he alone is aware of.

"What the hell is so damn funny!" Naruto hissed as he threw a fierce angry glare at the young man.

"Well you see Naruto…." Alex said with a sassy voice. "…even in my base form I don't have any problem traveling between dimensions. In fact that's how I can turn invisible, by partially phasing myself out of existence and in to other dimensions….and currently, in this form, I can exist in more than one dimension at the same time. To put that in layman's term my other self is still back on Isle Esme torturing Edward McMushroomCloud while I'm doing this little technical explanation to you. "He then continued, looking at Naruto with a haughty smile.

"What" Naruto gasped in horror.

"You did get the mushroom cloud reference did you?" Alex shrugged. "You know because his stupid hair looks like a mushroom cloud." He then continued, indifferent to the shinobi's plight.

"You Lie!" Naruto exclaimed with quaking intensity.

"Jeez say it not spray it dude…so uncool." Alex then said wiping some of the shinobi's saliva that landed on his face. "Well, there's only one solution to that problem doesn't' it?….a demonstration!" He then said jovially as he snapped his fingers.

Before Naruto knew it they were back on Isle Esme and he saw with his own eyes the other Alex flensing Edward while still singing that creepy song.

"Told you." Alex chuckled as his two halves merged together in to a single being which subsequently made a strange magical gesture then traced a symbol in to the air. A glyph formed that was wrought of cold fire and a deeper evil that just looking at it Naruto instantly felt darkness befell his senses.

But before the darkness fell complete Naruto made a last gamble. Forming a seal of confrontation he then utilized all of his remaining strength to dispel Bella's hypnotic slumber then telepathically gave her the details and instructions of his do or die strategy.

Then, with unspeakable agonies it seemed that the shinobi died; and his soul float free, and again he saw everything, though with bodiless eyes. And discarnate he stood in the islands shores of white sand illuminated by the pale silvery light of the moon interlaced with the crimson glare of the burning islands all around, with his body lying as if dead on the ground beside him.

At the same time, Bella opened her eyes. Still naked she took the sheets of the bed and wrapped it around her body. The last thing she remembered was the image of her disrupted honeymoon, it wasn't long however and her brain was bombarded with information.

With a mind jumbled with frantic thoughts Bella rushed outside to make certain that the vision Naruto has vouchsafed her isn't merely an illusion or a dream. "Oh my god….." She gasped in a hollow voice seeing the sheer amount of carnage as she stood on the threshold.

She saw Alex standing near the prone body of Naruto. Suddenly, the young man seemed to haves sensed her presence as he turned his head to her direction and looked at her with a confused gaze.

"How dare you awaken her!" Alex quaked in rage as he chided the disembodied phantom of Naruto.

"Why? Afraid she'll see the monster that you truly are?" Naruto responded deridingly.

Alex didn't answer but instead conjured a flask in his right hand and through his necromantic art he commanded Naruto to enter his new prison cell. Though unwilling, the shinobi was magically compelled to obey by necromantic forces that was like the biding of some angel of death; and thus, powerless, he did what was asked of him like a stringed puppet.

Subsequently, Alex shook the bottle briskly in a comedic manner causing the disembodied Naruto to feel stomach turning nausea and vertigo that he would've made him vomit violently if he was in corporeal form from the magically induced motion sickness.

Slowly, Bella approached the young man. The truth has now begun to trickle down as she saw the extent of the devastation.

"Hey Bella!" Alex greeted jovially as he waved amicably and hovered around Bella.

"Alex…..what happened to you?" Bella muttered in a quivering voice. For some reason he found it difficult to believe that the naively friendly and kind hearted boy she met and befriended in high school who believed that all life is precious is now an unfeeling and remorseless killer; a demented monster incapable of mercy. As she looked at those incandescently glowing white eyes that reflected the pain and anguish of how he's been treated and driven in to violent madness, she knew that her former friend's psyche was torn beyond recovery.

"Well….you abandoned me; broke my heart in to a million pieces; I went insane…but just a little; then I killed about forty five million people; well, fifty million if you count the chaps that's gonna kick the bucket once that particularly big piece of moon shard impacts Earth, in approximately ten minutes, give or take…So I guess that's four things that happened to me." Alex replied in a voice that while childishly amicable to Bella seemed coldly indifferent to the millions of people who died and the millions more who will die.

Bella's stomach turned as she realized that, in his madness, Alex no longer bothers to make any distinction between the innocent and the damned. He kills them all the same, for all those who oppose him or merely unlucky enough to draw his attention is his prey.

"You look tensed Bella." Alex said in a friendly voice that he always sports when talking to her, even before his mind was consumed by insanity. "You want me to play for you?" He then offered, conjuring a Stradivarius violin in his hand.

"I don't know you could play the violin." Bella inquired. Surprised, she temporarily forgotten her fear of him.

"I've been taking lessons from Lestat." Alex responded, smiling. "I have to find a way to distract myself when…you know….you abandoned me." He then continued.

"Okay, okay just play." Bella sneered a little. The fear she felt earlier has just converted itself in to irritation from the young man's constant guilt tripping, considering the fact that he just chipped the moon and razed half of a continent, not to mention killed millions of innocent, all in the interim of less than six hours.

"Okay" Alex said with an enigmatic smile on his face that made Bella think that while it may be true that the young man is now a dangerous sociopath, it is also undeniable that he is quite fine looking.

Alex then played Danse Macabre with fairly impressive proficiency that caught Bella by the throat by the musical splendor and couldn't help herself but enjoy the sweet melody created by each note wonderfully arranged in an intoxicating cavalcade of euphoric ecstasy.

Seeing the young man play such wonderful music gave Bella a hunch that there's still some humanity left in him and a patch of sanity still not ravaged by the consuming hatred that wrought his madness. It gave her hope that she could still save Alex, and in turn, he could still correct the mistakes he committed.

Everything was going well so far when a squadron of four JAS 39 Gripen flew at low altitude to investigate. They have been scrambled from a near airbase by the Brazilian Airforce to investigate and if need be, destroy any hostiles. Their engines roared and drowned the music of Alex's violin, infuriating him.

Deceptively, the rage building inside the young man was absolutely silent up until he directed his baleful attention to the destruction of the interlopers as his wrath pulsed like a light in his eye. With a flick of his wrist the jet fighters disintegrated in to thousands of individual parts, their engine's flying chaotically in the air. The pilots managed to jettison but was one by one targeted by Alex.

Extending his forefinger, Alex unleashed a bolt of lightning energy that hit directly the first pilot, causing him to violently explode into clouds of flaming ash.

"Alex please stop!" Bella pleaded but her words fell in to deaf ears.

Alex targeted the second pilot as from the tip of his forefinger charged a luridly iridescent energy of pure and undiluted destruction but before his power could unfold he heard Bella's now angry voice.

"Alexander Storm stop this at once!" Bella said in a loud and stentorian voice of authority that made Alex look at her with those incandescently glowing orbs that feels not an ounce of compunction in exterminating those the young man sees as inferior to him and feels no kinship with.

A moment of uncomfortable silence ensued. Bella felt increasingly frightened as Alex's spirit crushing sight fell at her.

"Okay" Alex shrugged casually, conceding to Bella's wishes.

Bella sighed and all of her fears evaporated. Feeling empowered and emboldened with hope she then confronted Alex more directly. "Alex what did you do to Edward and Naruto?"

"Edward stupid-hair is still alive, don't worry about him." Alex pouted as he crossed his arms like an immature child.

"And Naruto?" Bella inquired worriedly.

"Who?" Alex queried back with a confounded countenance on his face.

Though Bella knew he was just playing dumb she decided to be as patient as possible and play with it. "Naruto, is he dead?"

"Who again?" Alex inquired again in an even more childish manner.

"Naruto" Bella asked, nearing the threshold of her temper.

"Ooooh…him" Alex then said, seemingly ready to give Bella some answers. "his what?"

"Alex!" Fed up, Bella practically screeched irately.

To this Alex chuckled trollishly but stopped as he saw Bella looking at him with a raised brow. "Okay, okay….He's not dead I just removed his soul." He then sniggered like a child.

"You removed his soul?" Bella said with a weird cadence on her voice, not knowing how to react to the ghastly revelation that had been revealed to her with sprinkles and cherries on top by the young man.

"Yup" Alex said nonchalantly.

"Why would you do that?" Bella queried.

"Well….it's a long story. We were having some fun then he acted nasty and all, so I threw him in to a black hole, but he came back….I'm starting to think he don't want to die…..and that's where I removed his soul and put it on a bottle. I will make him watch as I destroy the souls of his whore and of her unborn bastard." He then said it in a quite matter-of-course way and without bitterness, as if he was just talking about trivial little things in a casual conversation.

Revulsion filled Bella's heart. "You will kill Leah while pregnant with Naruto's child?" She then expounded in a voice filled with abhorrence, hoping that some glimmer of reason and conscience would make Alex think otherwise and reconsider.

"You make it sound like I'm a hitman Bella. No I'm not gonna kill them that quick. It's a pain filled but not necessarily brief process. Trust me, you don't want to know the details as it's quite distasteful." Alex said as if he was just telling a joke. He then laughed and laughed till it was enough to make a person sick to hear him.

At this point Bella remembered one of Naruto's hypotheses that were telepathically conveyed to her earlier. The shinobi speculated that Alex's new found powers is causing him to be mentally imbalance and violently mad, and perhaps by somewhat cutting him from that power or making him voluntarily severe his connection to it he may regain his sanity back.

"Alex…I think there is something wrong with you…and it has something to do with your new found abilities." Bella said in a gentle voice, taking as much care not to anger the young man.

"You mean to say that wielding the powers of the living universe makes me a little crazy? Is that what you want to say? Alex inquired with a demonic grin on his face.

Bella froze in fear but gathering all her courage she answered. "Yes"

"I know. I realized that like four hours ago." Alex shrugged then chuckled.

"Alex, listen to me. You must snap out of it." Bella said earnestly to the young man.

"Why? Why should I give up my power, it makes me feel good." Alex queried in a suspicious voice.

"Because it is messing with your head." Bella retorted in a concerned tone. "Trust me."

"Are you planning something, a subterfuge?" Alex said in a voice that was starting to get interlaced with distrust and cynicism. "Please don't play games with me Bella. If you force me to break your mental defenses and enter your mind, I assure you the results would be most unpleasant." He then continued in a demonic growling of a voice while his eyes now glowed so intense that it was like looking in to an empyrean wall of white light.

Bella was scared to death but nonetheless stood her ground. "I'm your friend Alex…but if you no longer trust me then just kill me now." She then said with courage that only a few individuals possess.

"I…..I….very well Bella, I will do what you ask of me." Though hesitant, Alex conceded and severed his connection from the cosmos. At this point the white glowing of his eyes ebbed, bringing back the bright sapphire blue in them as his senses raced back in to the threshold of consciousness and regain his nearly lost volition.

"Ughh what just happened?" Alex said, confused, holding his head as if he just woke up from a prolonged nightmare. "No…what have I done….." He then muttered remorsefully in an airy voice as he remembered the onslaught he had wrought and the millions of lives he delivered to death's welcoming embrace.

"You killed all those people Alex." Bella said in a low sad voice.

"I didn't mean to….." Alex said in a hollow voice, distraught as his conscience slowly ate through him. "I didn't know….that I would turn in to a monster the moment I merge with the living universe and become the conduit of its power. I never wanted to kill anyone." He then said with tears welling up his eyes; grabbing Bella's arms, begging his friend to believe him, to forgive him.

"You gave me your word that you won't bother us again." Bella said with a little sneer in her voice finding the young man's actions and presence contemptible.

"I have no choice Bella….I don't want you to die." Alex said in the most broken voice as if he knew something that Bella is not aware of.

"What?" Bella inquired with a furrowed brow, more confused than irate, stomped on the later statement.

"I can't explain it but please believe me." Alex practically begged.

"If what you say is true then release Edward and Naruto from your curse." Bella demanded firmly in a calm and collected voice.

"But they will kill me the moment I do that Bella." Alex replied, looking at Bella with eyes that reflected his anxiety.

"No one will hurt you." Bella said in a gentle voice of reassurance. "You're my friend. I won't let them kill you." She then smiled with a gentle smile at Alex, and to this he smiled back as he found solace in her kindness that seemingly proved Nyarlathotep wrong.

"You fool, she's using you. Don't trust her!" Nyarlathotep exclaimed in an angry stentorian voice, telepathically communicating to Alex from the other side of the barrier.

"I will do what you ask." Alex said with a gentle smile on his face, ignoring Nyarlathotep's voice. At that point the ethereal lance piercing Naruto's chest and the rune paralyzing Edward lost their power and dissolved.

"Thank you." Bella said, hugging the young man.

"Will you….take me back again?" Alex asked said in a voice that was interlaced with unease and hesitation but not without hope.

"Yes" Bella replied ever so gently.

It was the happiest day of Alex's life for despite the disaster which he was mostly responsible, Bella chose to still give her a second chance; and though they didn't end up together he was again part of her life and she a part of his, and that gave him much solace.

Out of sudden Bella pushed him away. "Now Naruto!" She then exclaimed.

Alex quickly turned his head then saw Naruto behind, with a kunai in hand piercing his back. "aghh….Bella….you promised." He muttered stutteringly in a low and crestfallen voice that reverberated his despondency and echoed the anguish that replaced the hope he once had; looking at Bella with half-masted dulled blue eyes in both disbelief that she could have done this to him, and despair as he later realized what a fool he was for being so trusting as he coughed up blood due to the kunai puncturing one of his lungs.

Seeing the pitiful display Bella turned her gaze away from the dying young man as she couldn't stand to see those eyes looking at her before he lay down his life, those blue sapphire eyes that were sad by nature as well as circumstance. "I'm sorry Alex. You've given us no choice." She then uttered inaudibly in downheartedness.

Subsequently, Naruto engendered cursed marks to spread from Alex's body that will trap him in a genjutsu for the short remainder of his life. Allowing the young man to pass away peacefully, preventing a psionic backlash that will kill everyone within his power's range.

However to everyone's horror when dark energies suddenly twisted and billowed about Alex subsequently enveloping him in what looked like a ghostly cloak that was being blown by eerie winds of the underworld. As the shadowy darkness ebbed the young man has also disappeared. This happened so fast that even Naruto wasn't able to stop it.

In truth, the gods beyond the barrier pooled their collective power to effect the physical realm and prevent the key to their release from dying without opening all the locks of their extradimensional prison, sending Alex to the shadow realm where their demonic servants can heal the young man from his fatal wound and help him recuperate.

Though verily the gods rejoiced for this short term defeat is nothing more than an actual victory, and the next step to their plan of returning to Earth and re-enslaving humanity for their prison has multiple gates placed by Errealth to prevent their escape; and today, the massive psychic shockwave that reverberated in the land of dreams from Alex's hopelessness, along with the prerequisite tribute of millions of angry souls lamenting their untimely death and crying for justice in the land of the dead has opened two of the three gates of the barrier.

"What happened?" Bella asked with a voice that was both laced with guild and horror.

"Is he dead?" Edward supplemented with another inquiry. It was already sunrise at that point and his body was sparkling like diamonds as the rays of the morning sun gently caressed his marble-like skin.

"No" Naruto said in a deathly serious voice.

"The next time we see him he will no longer listen to me." Bella muttered in fear.

"What should we do?" Edward inquired in the same mirthless tone.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there." Naruto replied, seemingly regaining back his more laidback, jovial and jesting personality, rejoicing today's triumph. "At the mean time do put on some clothes Edward. Jeez….the only thing worse than seeing you naked is seeing your family jewels sparkle in the sun."

 **-End**

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 **Hey there Folks!**

 **I hope you awesome people enjoyed reading. Originally my plan was to post this and the previous chapter as one but I realized that it's too long for just a single chapter.**

 **Anyways, I decided to name this chapter 'Sanity's Eclipse' not only because one of the characters went totally bonkers but mainly because of the insane (pardon the pun) number of plot twists and mind bending scenes in this particular chapter that would shake the reader's previously held beliefs or assumptions about the nature of reality in the story and would keep him/her guessing what would happen next.**

 **Also, in the past chapters you may have noticed that Naruto always win by overpowering the opponent and it has been a little bit predictable. So in this chapter I think it would be nice for a change that he would overcame his enemy by using his wits and cunning as a shinobi.**

 **Thanks so much folks for the wonderful responses and inputs. They are always welcome and I always appreciate 'em.**

 **See you next chapter!**

 **Cheerio :)**


	26. Chapter 26: The Aftermath

(M16 – London)

Obviously in a sour mood due to sleep deprivation from being roused by an urgent call in such an ungodly hour, Sir James Curwen hurriedly walked in to the Situation Room. "Basil, mind telling me what the hell is happening." He then said with a frown on his face.

"Good evening sir." Basil Hemsworth the chief of staff of MI6, greeted with a rather nervous expression on his face.

"For heaven's sake dispense the pleasantries, it's already morning. Get on with your report already. What's so important that you have to wake me in the hour of the wolf?" Curwen sneered with a furrowed brow.

"Right…." Hemsworth said in a quivering voice, seemingly he himself couldn't believe what he's about to report to his superior. "Thirty five minutes ago the BGS registered powerful seismic waves that was strong enough to be measured on its third passing around the globe. This tremor was caused by a massive explosion on the south-east coast of Brazil that completely destroyed Ipanema. One of our satellites was able to pick up the explosion." He then continued, showing on screen the satellite images of the destruction that was like a glowing ember on the map of Brazil.

"Is this live?" Curwen inquired, his eyes widened.

"Yes sir." Hemsworth concurred.

"This amount of destruction could only be caused…..by a thermo-nuclear detonation, a hydrogen bomb with around ten megaton blast yield." Flabbergasted the shear amount of devastation, Curwen muttered his hypothesis in an airy voice.

"That was our first conclusion…that is until…" Hemsworth replied as he typed something on his computer.

"What do you mean?" Curwen inquired, puzzled.

"Scans indicate there is very little trace of radiation on ground zero, lowering the chance that this was caused by a nuclear explosion." Hemsworth replied as charts supporting his argument flashed on the screen.

"What are you suggesting Basil?" Said Curwen in an ominous tone while the lines above his eyes crinkled, reflecting a well guised confusion.

"Well sir, about a year ago we received intelligence of a similar but much more…uhmm….contained incident happening on an area near a small town called Forks." Hemsworth replied.

"Yes, I saw that on CNN. We believe that the Americans were experimenting on a powerful top secret directed energy weapon that went awry and destroyed a small mountain in the vicinity." Curwen said ponderingly. "It is possible that they continued experimenting on the same weapon system but this time whatever complication it had, has gone so far out of hand to cause all this destruction." He then continued.

"It would seem so sir." Hemsworth supplemented.

"Blasted Americans! They never learn!" Curwen said sneeringly.

However, out of sudden the live feed was severed and the screen turned white as if their spy satellite was destroyed.

"What bloody hell was that?" Curwen inquired in confusion while Hemsworth scrambled in to the phone to find out what happened.

"Our satellite was knocked out…..so are two of the Russians and one of the Americans….just a moment sir, we have another one coming in to range…..now." Hemsworth said as he analyzed the data transmitted to him, maintaining an astute composure though he himself was much bewildered by what happened.

To everyone's surprise and horror when they saw on the screen a gigantic fireball on the borders between Brazil and Colombia a hundred miles in radius and was like a blooming crimson flower of pure devastation. The atmospheric distortion caused by the ensuing shockwave was clearly visible to the spy satellite's ultra-high definition camera and was like ripples harrowing away the clouds on its path.

If this wasn't nerve racking enough it wasn't long before they beheld millions upon millions of energy blasts descending from space, continuously bombarding the ground beneath for fifteen straight minutes until the planetary crust cracked like the shell of an egg and lava spilled out from the mantle.

Everything touched by these energy blasts was instantly destroyed. Much of the rainforest cresting the upper half of South America with its lush abundance was incinerated and the ground became scorched and blackened, and was dead as the moon.

"My god…what's happening." Hemsworth said stutteringly out of trepidation.

"Mr. Curwen, sir. The prime minister is on the phone." One of the staff informed the dazed James Curwen as his eyes widened from watching the ensuing chaos of the horrific sight.

"I….I'll take it in my office." Curwen said in a low quavering voice as he slowly walked out of the room and in to his office.

There was a full twenty five minutes of silence and disquietude as most of the staff thought this was the beginning of world war III. Finally the lacquered door of James Curwen's office opened slowly and its creaking broke the silence permeating the air around the situation room. On his pale face was a countenance of disbelief, horror and confusion, all jumbled down in to a singular expression that was quite rare to see from a seasoned man of his station.

"Everything alright sir?" Hemsworth inquired, confused as well as anxious.

"I just talked to the prime minister along with my counterpart at the CIA…..gentlemen, it would seem we along with the rest of the worlds governments is about to embark on the greatest cover up in modern history." Curwen replied, regaining some of his composure though he spoke with quivering lips and in a voice that seemed to be a ghost of his former voice, as if he was privy to something so disturbing, so dreadful and awful that it drained most of his courage.

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(Quileute Reservation – Forks)

"Leah! Mom!" Seth howled in a hollow voice that reflected the urgency of the matter.

"Seth what's the matter?" Sue inquired frantically as she abruptly went in to the living room but was herself gone taciturn as she saw what's on the news.

"Massive destruction in the upper half of South America as what experts believed to be a large meteor impacted near in between the border of Brazil and Colombia. Meanwhile, chaos and panic ensued from the survivors….." The news caster said as live feed of the devastation was aired. It was too much for Sue. The graphic images has unnerved her so much that she instinctively winced and looked away.

"Hey, what's happening?" Leah asked in a somewhat grumpy voice as she had very little sleep on the night prior, having a strange feeling that something bad has happened. "What the hell…." She then muttered in an airy voice as she saw on TV an aerial shot of a disturbing scene highlighting the extent of the devastation caused by what she first thought to be calamity or total war.

The once lush tropical rainforests that were usually featured on the Discovery Channel and on National Geographic for their biodiversity and natural beauty were now the very vision of a fiery hell, a wilderness of chaotic blackened stone, of fused obsidian-like blocks, where streams of molten lava still ran in the mighty chasms, or poured like torrents adown unfathomable pits that had opened in the ground.

They watched silently in horror as the graphic aftermath flashed on the screen. The highland city of Bogota, the capital of Colombia, was like a scene from a fiendish and post-apocalyptic nightmare. Mephitic and metallic vapors arose all over the city, intertwining with the black smoke from the burning and toppled buildings and the thick billows of suffocating clouds of dust from the overthrown skyscrapers. Amidst the wreckage were the charred bodies of the poor denizens who had been caught by the searing touch of the wrathful demigod's unforgiving energy blasts.

The reporter noted that it was extremely difficult to mount a rescue mission from the dizzying heat that emanated from everywhere, surging upon the rescuers as buffeting waves when they attempted to brave the ruins, forcing them to retreat.

Sue can no longer take it. She grabbed the remote and turned the TV off, feeling so much distress and unease, regretting why she even watched it on the first place.

Leah on the other hand can't help but feel anxious as the image of Naruto flashed unceasingly inside her head. She couldn't explain the gnawing disquietude in her heart but she felt that as if something horrible has happened to the blonde.

Suddenly, three knocks reverberated on the door, followed by three more which broke the ice of deep and serious contemplation on Leah's mind for some invisible force guided him to the wooden portal and upon opening it saw Naruto with a big smile of relief on his face.

Without hesitation Naruto hugged her ardently. "I'm so glad you're ok." He then said while a tear of joy raced through his face.

"I'm fine. What happened to you?" Leah inquired in bewilderment seeing the tattered and partially burned clothes of the shinobi along with some bruises and wounds on his face as if he got in to a huge bar fight or something.

Though she knew that Naruto is by all means physically invulnerable to injury save for the most obscene of damaging force, and it worried her for she had a hunch that whatever caused the destruction in South America is somehow connected or more likely directly responsible for the shinobi's current condition.

"It doesn't matter…" Naruto said in a serious voice while he looked directly at Leah's eyes, making the latter feel a bit uncomfortable. "Is it true am I going to be a father?" He then inquired in the same serious but obviously hopeful voice.

"Yes…two months." Leah muttered in a low voice, uncertain of how Naruto would react.

An indescribable joy burst out of Naruto. Overwhelmed by the emotion he was left taciturn but an unmistakable expression of happiness and delight was etched on his wide smile. Suddenly, he noticed that his breathing became fast and deep, clammy sweat ran on his forehead and he could hear some wierd ringing sound on his ear. Before the shinobi knew it, he became lightheaded and his vision blurred. Subsequently, he then felt his body impact the ground and heard Leah's fading voice as he drifted in to unconsciousness.

"Naruto…hey! hey!…don't you… don't you dare faint on me Naruto!" Leah screamed in both bewilderment and worry as he saw his overjoyed boyfriend faint upon hearing her confirmation. "Seth! Help me!" She then continued.

"Whoa what happened?" Though fully aware of what transpired, Seth inquired with an amused smirk on his face upon seeing the unconscious Naruto lying senseless on the ground with a rather frozen smile on the blondes face as if dreaming something wondrous and effervescent.

"Don't just stand there help me get him in the house…and wipe that grin off your face while you're at it." Leah said chidingly that only made her brother snigger as the latter took one side of the shinobi's arm and help her sister carry him inside.

"Oh my god! What happened?" Sue said as she saw the unconscious shinobi being carried by both Leah and Seth in to the sofa in their living room.

"He fainted." Seth smirked with a goofy smile, earning him Leah's reprimanding gaze.

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(Cairo, Egypt – One Week Later)

As the final stone seal of the royal tomb was broken Dr. Giles Petersen secretly smiled with the air of a victor while still tried to maintain the composure of an erudite man of science. A once respected archeology professor he was single minded and obsessed with regards to the study of ancient artifacts to the point of resorting to unscrupulous means of acquisition, overzealously valuing knowledge over the petty trivialities of ethics.

When his peers learned about his extracurricular activities Dr. Petersen was shunned from the academic circles and derided by the scientific community as an embarrassment and a mere tomb raider. As if fate wasn't kind enough to the good doctor he was relieved from his position at the university siting some heavily euphemized excuse though he was well aware of why he was being fired.

Embittered, he found no other reason to continue living. About a year ago he was ready to end it all. With a pistol pointed on his head he was about to pull the trigger when his phone rang. At first he decided to ignore it but the constant and incessant ringing seemingly pushed all his buttons and made him angrily lift the device and answer the call, only to be surprised as he found out that he was being commissioned by a certain British nobleman to lead an exploration team whose goal is to find the tomb of king Neferkah I; pharaoh of the 3rd dynasty who ruled over the old kingdom, over four thousand years ago.

Though reigning only for a little over thirteen years, there were stories that the pharaoh was a practitioner of the mystic arts and has in his possession a dark stone given to him by the dark gods he worshipped. The sacrilegious use of this stone was known only to himself but it was speculated by many that it was some sort of alchemical appurtenance used in the darkest and most foul rituals he and his priests perform during the lunar equinox.

Dr. Petersen dismissed this as just a bunch of silly superstitions as he deciphered the hieroglyphic inscriptions on the limestone barrier with a warning saying that breaking the seals of the tomb would engender the destruction of the Earth. Though he must admit that finding the tomb was no easy task for it is located deep beneath Cairo, accessible only through a series of secret vaults and tunnels.

This whole endeavor was, by the letter of the law, highly illegal. Officials were bribed, diggers were paid extra for their silence and every other precaution was taken by Dr. Petersen to insure the concealment of the excavation for if the Egyptian government found out about it he would not only risk being arrested but the glory of discovery would be taken away from him.

But finally, after a year of grueling hard work he has found what he was looking for deep in the heart of modern Cairo; and a gleam inadvertently escaped his mouth as the stone seal of the tomb came down.

"Ahh! It stinks." Lestat said besides Dr. Petersen as with his vampiric olfactory sense he smelled the rank air emanating from the newly opened tomb.

"This chamber hasn't been opened for the last three thousand years monsieur de Lioncourt. That explains the bad quality of air." Dr. Petersen astutely explained albeit with a well-disguised sneer.

It is bad enough to find out that his patron and benefactor was just a mere teenager with lots of cash to spare but to send a rock star from the late eighties who don't know a thing about archeology as his envoy is insulting on his part. Though, nonetheless he complied seeing that his success in this undertaking is the only way to restore his former glory and rub on to the faces of his colleagues that he, Dr. Giles Petersen, the very person they have scorned and laughed at behind his back has made one of the greatest archeological find since Howard Carter discovered the tomb of king Tutankhamen.

Shining the beam of his flashlight Dr. Petersen was stunned on the staggering amounts of treasure the tomb holds. There were vessels of exquisitely carved alabaster that contained the expensive perfumed unguents of the ancient world; amphorae of imperial wines, now all dried up; there was the pharaoh's war chariot, gilded and studded with jewels; there were magnificent sculptures and trinkets finely crafted from gold and lapis lazuli, jasper, turquois and other semi-precious stones; there were chest upon chest of jewelry of exquisite quality; and most of all, at the edge of the antechamber is another sealed room where rested the great pharaoh himself.

As the stone seal was brought down entirely Dr. Petersen and Lestat strode the passageway leading to a clay sealed gate of Neferkah's burial chamber. This seal they also broke, and as the hieroglyphic etched gilded gate opened they beheld the great gold sarcophagus of the pharaoh himself.

"Isn't he magnificent?" Dr. Petersen mumbled in a voice interlaced with barely restrained glee.

"Yes…very" Lestat said sarcastically in an uninterested voice. After which, he strode forward in to the sarcophagus and in to the wall near the statue of Anubis on its left.

With vampiric senses able to observe the details that the common person would miss in the environment around them he was able to discern that there is a secret chamber behind the said wall by just listening on how their voices bounce and echo on its surface.

"What are you….doing?" Dr. Petersen said stutteringly as he saw Lestat feeling something on the wall. "What the hell do you think you're doing!" He then exclaimed after he beheld in shock as the latter suddenly punched the wall with force similar to that of a sledge hammer, causing it to be easily demolished, revealing a secret storage chamber behind it.

Within the said concealed chamber were two boxes. The first one was a large heavy chest made of intricately carved wood, ivory and gold, and studded with precious and semi-precious gemstones; while the second is a smaller box wrought of unrusted gleaming black metal and adorned with curious glyphs that were not of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.

"Load the boxes in to the car." Lestat said with a subtle smile on his face as he gave his instructions to the workers who carried his orders without delay.

"Monsieur de Lioncourt what is this? What's happening?" Dr. Petersen inquired in both bewilderment and outrage as two workers pass by him carrying on their hands the bigger box while the smaller one was handed to Lestat by another worker.

"These items will be shipped to Cardiff, obviously." Lestat responded in quite a sarcastic manner.

"But sir, those along with the rest of the artifacts must be studied." Dr. Petersen urged, practically begging to return the items for study seeing the hieroglyphics on the larger box and realizing that the chest held inside scrolls of papyrus containing sacred spells and ancient incantations while he speculated that the smaller box held within it an artifact known as the hearth of Nyarlathotep, a mysterious dark stone reputed to be given to the pharaoh by the dark deity himself.

"Under the terms of the concession anything that you'll find on this dig belongs to my employer. However, Lord Storm is generous enough to let the Egyptian government keep the mementos of its ancient heritage and credit you with this marvelous discovery, along with a handsome compensation package of five million euros. All he wants is a little souvenir for this glorious albeit expensive endeavor." Lestat expounded smilingly in a calm and suave voice as he continued walking out to the tomb's exit.

"But sir…" Dr. Petersen protested but was cutoff.

"Of all the money and efforts his lordship has put to realize your vision I think a couple of boxes is the least he's entitled to, don't you think Mr. Petersen?" Lestat riposted.

"It's Dr. Petersen" He scoffingly corrected. "What would I say to the officials once they inspected the tomb and found out that two of the pharaoh's most prized possessions are missing?" Dr. Petersen then continued.

"Fine, Dr. Petersen." Lestat sneered a little. "Move some of the treasures from the antechamber or better yet tell them nothing is in that hell hole on the first place. Be creative, that's why you're getting paid extra." He then continued but suddenly halted as they reached the threshold of the tomb's entrance and saw the beam of sunlight shining through it.

"Is there something wrong sir?" Dr. Petersen queried, puzzled by Lestat's sudden hesitation that borders fear to step on the limestone floor illuminated by the rays of mid-day.

"Nothing. Old habits die hard I suppose." Lestat said in a hollow voice as he then continued to walk out of the tomb. In truth the centuries' old fear of daylight has deeply imbedded itself in to every fiber of his being that it was still quite prevalent even though Errealth's power has tempered his flesh to withstand the rays of the sun and make harmless the light that was once lethal to him.

"Monsieur de Lioncourt please reconsider…" Dr. Petersen pleaded as the chauffeur opened the door of a flint gray 2012 Mercedes G-Class to Lestat.

"You have your orders. It would be in your best interest to just obey." Lestat said in a stern voice, silencing Dr. Petersen.

Subsequently, as he entered the car he saw Armand seating on the opposite side of the rear seat, waiting for him. "So, how is he?" Lestat inquired. Though his voice was calm and mellow flowing there is a hint of concern intertwining in its cadence.

"He has regained consciousness after a week of being in coma….he's still very weak and his wounds are just taking too long to heal." Armand said in a solemn voice which fell in to a whisper like murmur near the end of his sentence. "How about you? Any good news from the dig?" He then opted to change topic.

"Yes….quite fortuitous. We found what we're looking for." Lestat responded though he seemed distracted and anxious after hearing Armand's previous statement. "They are now being loaded in the convoy as we speak. Smuggling it out of this country is just a simple matter."

"What do you think those are for?" Armand queried, perplexed.

"The big box contains some scrolls which are obviously spells. The smaller one however…well, I don't know really but I heard from him once that inside it is some sort of key." Lestat said as he sifted through the contents of his vampiric memory.

"A key to what?" Armand once again inquired out of curiosity.

Lestat shrugged. "I don't know." He then said in a hollow voice.

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It was in a cold winter night that Bella found herself deep in an alien forest. Unlike any mundane woodland filled with the signs of creatures both nocturnal and diurnal, this strange and nightmarish place was void of life save for the dissonantly twisted trees with branches like beckoning demonian digits. Thick and ghostly vapors arose opaquely from the mottled, mineral encrusted ground and the entire locus was haunted by a maddening silence that is from time to time broken by the sound of eerie blowing winds.

"Hello! Anyone!" Bella called, hoping that Edward would answer but there was nothing save the shrill echoes that was like the screeching of mocking demons laughing at her predicament.

Filled with fear and despair she lowered her head in to the snow covered earth that reflected a crimson light descending from the sky.

With great trepidation, she slowly lifted her head and realized that she was now standing near the edge of a rocky crag overlooking a violent thrashing sea. Suddenly, out of the black waters rose five spire-like things that clawed their way up in to the low lying clouds of the dark burning sky. Much to her horror when Bella realized that these spire-like things were serpentine necks and atop them were supremely repugnant dragon-like heads.

"What's this….what's happening?" Bella muttered in a quivering voice.

At that point she noticed the crimson light from the sky intensify and continued to do so until the snow sparkled with a wan amaranth luster. Lifting her head and looking up, all her courage abandoned her and was replaced by a terror that made her body stiffened and her heart seemingly stopped in ineffable revulsion for the blood red light wasn't from the tainted sun but from the sinister glowing eyes of one of the titanic dragon heads rearing down at her with a horrific grin carved on its monstrous countenance.

Suddenly, its mouth opened wide as it prepared to swallow its prey. Overwhelmed with terror from the knowledge of her impending doom as she gazed upon the rows of cyclopean razor sharp fangs on the gulf like maw of the monster Bella could only helplessly shiver in fear while her entire life flashed before her eyes. Then with all the rapidity of an impending cataclysm the creature descended upon her, biting off the ragged crag were she stood, subsequently shutting its mouth tight as it swallowed her whole.

"No! no! no!" Bella fretfully groaned as the darkness and the cold engulfed her and numbed her every senses. But suddenly, when all hope was seemingly lost she heard a voice, a comforting voice, it was Edward's.

"Bella wake up. You're having a nightmare." Edward said in a gentle and velvety voice, rousing Bella from her nightmare entangled sleep.

"Edward" Bella muttered then hugged her husband tightly.

Two weeks have passed since the incident on Isle Esme but the trauma it had wrought was very much fresh, though this isn't the cause of her bad dreams. A few days after they came back to the states Bella experienced mood swings, peculiar eating habits, terrible nightmares and severe morning sickness, which confuses her.

After finding tampons in her bag, she notices that her period is five days late, and a hard, growing bump protruding from her hips, realizing she is pregnant. Strangely, for some reason, it took her out of Alice's sight that made the latter extremely worried about her.

After finding out about it Edward was distraught. He knows that there have been stories of women who died while giving birth to a vampire's child. Therefore, he leaps into action, as always, only caring about the safety of Bella, and insists that she let Carlisle remove the abnormally rapid-growing fetus. She won't allow it, however. Enlisting Rosalie's help as a bodyguard, with support from Emmett and Esme, she refuses to have an abortion, determined to carry the child.

Edward begged Naruto to convince Bella to have the abortion in order to save her life but the shinobi was torn between two fires as the latter was determined to carry the baby. Then out of a sudden an idea struck the shinobi.

Using his medical ninjutsu Naruto was able to counteract the unhealthy effect of the baby, healing Bella's from the damage done to her body by its movements and at the same time nourishing it with his own raw life energy.

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(First Beach – La Push)

There was no sun but it wasn't raining either, a decent weather by Fork's standards. Today the pack decided to hang out on the beach and unwind a little. Though, strangely it would seem that they were divided in to two groups; those who have imprinted and those who haven't yet, and as if both groups were completely invisible to one another.

It has been a few weeks now since Edward and Bella got married. Jake was anxious and couldn't help but speculate that Bella was gone, considering all that happened and due to the fact that all this time she hasn't heard from her.

"Maybe they'll say she was in a car crash, or tripped and fell off a cliff." Jacob said grimly as he gazed in to the sea shifting to the horizon, watching the waves crash in to the shore.

Seth felt a bit uncomfortable; the last thing he wanted to hear was Jake talking about the possibility of Bella dying at Edward's hand.

After a while Seth shifted his gaze downward as Jake grew silent, as if the latter was deeply contemplating how he'll kill the vampire if anything happens to Bella. After an interim he shifted his gaze again, this time to the other members of the pack as they shouted, laughed, and kicked a football across the sand with their imprintees.

"At least I'll get one thing out of it." Jake spoke again as a small, twisted grin formed on his lips, making Seth frown. One wouldn't need telepathy to know that he was thinking of all the brutal ways of how he'll kill Edward.

"No you won't." Sam said sternly, surprising Jake, Seth and Embry as he jumped into their conversation. "The Cullens are not a danger to the town or the tribe." He then explained, looking over the three, just as Leah had come to join them.

"Well he's either gonna kill her, or change her. And the treaty says-" Jake said in protest.

"I say, Jacob. I say." Sam said, dismissing the argument as he walked on.

"You know, if you wanted things different, you should have become Alpha." Embry said.

"Turning it down seemed like a good idea at the time." Jake replied with a bit of regret.

"Jake, you really think you could kill Bella if she came back a vampire?" Seth inquired, trying to knock some sense to his friend.

"No. He'd make one of us do it then hold a grudge against…." Leah joined the conversation but was cutoff.

"Oh shut up Leah." Jake sneered, not having the patience to deal with her at the moment.

"Would you just get over it!? It's not like you imprinted on her." Leah snapped back.

"Oh you could say that because you imprinted on one of them, that Naruto." Jake roared, seemingly venting all his anger to Leah.

"You have no idea what you're talking about Jake." Though irked Leah said equably that took Jake aback and made him calm down a little. "Go home. We'll talk again about this when your head cools down." She then continued in a gentle voice, empathizing on the latter's pain.

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(Cullen'ss Residence – Later That Day)

"How are you feeling now Bella?" Naruto inquired while green light emanated from his hands as they were pressed gently on Bella's stomach, healing her bruises caused by the baby's supernatural strength.

"I'm feeling much better now. Thank you Naruto." Bella said with a gentle smile.

"My pleasure." Naruto replied jovially. "Rosalie you might as well come out now. I thought you guys were gon'na go hunt today. What are you doing hiding back at that tree?" He then said with a blank expression on his face. He knew from the start that the latter has concealed herself behind a red cedar tree nearby but decided to just play along, pretending not to be aware until he himself find it tiresome.

With vampiric speeds Rosalie moved in to the house's living room where Bella and the Shinobi were. "Well can you blame me? I have to look out for the baby." She said to Naruto with furrowed brow.

"Oh for heaven's sake! We've already been through this many times ya'know. I'm not planning anything bad with the baby, ok." Naruto grimaced then replied in an exasperated voice.

"Just making sure." Rosalie riposted, smiling at the shinobi.

"Fine, fine" Naruto shrugged. "I think I'm gon'na get something to drink. Want something from the fridge Bella?" He then inquired.

"I'm good." Bella replied. "Naruto…uhmm." She then said as if wanted to ask something from the shinobi but seemingly hesitant to continue.

"Yeah?" Naruto inquired, a bit confused with the hesitation on Bella's voice.

"No, it's nothing." Bella said diffidently, earning the attention of both Naruto and Rosalie.

Naruto sighed deeply then sat near Bella. "Come on, tell me whatever it is. I promise that no topic would be taboo." He then said with a reassuring smile.

"Well….you see, I know you're a good person and a great guy and all….also, I don't want you to think that I'm sticking my nose where it doesn't belong but it's just…I don't really know anything about you." Bella said in a low voice and seemingly with great hesitation, not wanting to offend Naruto by being too nosey.

"Yeah….come to think of it we've been living together for seventy nine years and I know anything about you. Except for the fact that you can be annoying, childish….and did I mention annoying?" Rosalie said, quipping at the end of his sentence that made Naruto pout.

"Fine. What do you guys want to know?" Naruto shrugged, smiling in relent.

At that point the rest of the Cullens came from hunting. "Is something interesting happened while were gone?" Carlisle smilingly inquired in a gentle voice.

"Oh great. More audience." Naruto said sarcastically in a monotonic voice and with a humorously deadpan expression on his face.

"Naruto is just about to tell us his deepest darkest secrets." Rosalie sniggered.

"And we're just in time." Alice supplemented, giggling.

"Alright….might as well, let's get this over with." Naruto sighed again. "Okay, where should I start?" He then said.

"At the very beginning of course." Jasper answered which the others unanimously concurred.

" _Oh boy this is going to be a long story."_ Naruto thought, sighing once again. "Ok….I was born approximately ten thousand years ago, in a world far different from this one. Back then people were born with chakra. It's a form of energy created when the physical and spiritual energies of a living being are molded together, and is essential in performing jutsus." He then started that instantly caught the attention of everyone in the room.

"What are joe...jutsus?" Emmett inquired with a confounded countenance on his face.

"Well, for all intents and purposes, Jutsu is tantamount to what you people refer today as magic. They are the mystical arts a shinobi utilizes in battle. To use a technique, I need to use chakra. To perform a technique, I have to bring out and release the two energies of chakra. By forming hand seals, I am able to manifest the desired technique." Naruto explained sagaciously as he held out his hand then from his palm manifested a rapidly spinning ball of blue energy that dazed everyone.

"Okay, where was I? Ah yes…I was born in a continent that was once situated in an area you know now as the Pacific Ocean, in a village within the Land of Fire called Konoha. Back then it was constant war, even though I was born and spent my childhood in an age of relative peace bloodshed was commonplace and people were inured to it. It's something modern day folks like yourselves would probably identify as a dystopian society. For me and the other kids back then, it was home. Though, admittedly I wasn't treated very well by the villagers throughout my childhood years. Nonetheless I strived to earn not only their trust but their admiration as well." Naruto recounted in a nostalgic voice, beaming a little with a sad smile as he reminisced the era from which he hailed and the hardships he endured during his childhood.

"I don't understand. How can they hate you? How can they possibly hate such a good person like you?" Esme inquired maternally, wanting to hug Naruto, wanting to ease the latter's burden from remembering the pain of the past.

Naruto slightly bowed his head, maintaining the sad smile he then continued his tale. "At the night of my birth a nine-tailed fox suddenly appeared. Its tails lashed out, smashing mountains, and sending tidal waves crashing to the shores. The shinobis rose up to defend their villages but most of them were all but wiped out easily. That is until the leader of the village of the hidden leaf faced the fox, sacrificing his life to seal the beast to his new born son, me."

"Orphaned, I grew up not knowing who my parents were, receiving only my mother's surname, as Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, wanted to protect me. My father, Minato Namikaze, has one dying wish. That was for me to be regarded as a hero but it was honored by the very few who could put aside their pain and losses caused by the disaster, while the majority of Konoha, however having no knowledge of the circumstances surrounding my birth, openly ostracized and resented me for something I never chose….for containing the beast that devastated the village and took many lives. Some even viewed me as the Nine-Tails itself. Soon, the Third Hokage forbade anyone from mentioning the kyubi, hoping that the younger generation would not blindly hate me as their parents did. Nonetheless, however my peers emulated their parents' hatred of me, despite not knowing why." Naruto said in a sad and hollow voice. The expression on his face turned a little bit somber as he reminisced in his memories the pain of those unbearable loathing glares he received from the villagers, how they murmured to each other every time they see him approaching, how they expressly forbade their children from playing with him, and indeed thought them to hate him as they do.

"See what you did? So uncool dude." Shukaku said to Kurama teasingly inside of Naruto's head.

"Put a sock in it! Like you did any better with that Gaara boy, you fat dumb squirrel. Last time I checked you drove the poor lad mentally unstable." Kurama comically burst out in exasperation. "And what the hell is up with the hippity-hop talk?" He then continued in a sarcastic voice.

Everyone was silent upon hearing the shinobi's story. It was quite a strange thing to see Naruto not in his usual happy, boisterous and exuberant personality but to see his fortitude amidst all his misfortune was sublime.

Naruto continued, telling his captivated audience his adventures, the battles he fought in the past, and how he eventually won the acknowledgement and friendship of the people of Konoha, who through his unrelenting hard work and perseverance has begun to believe in his vision. But when everything seemed to have gone alright, a disaster struck.

"The ten-tailed beast, the progenitor of chakra, has gone in to a rampage destroying everything in its path; prompting the usually divided and untrusting elemental nations and hidden villages to band together for their survival."

"Setting aside petty differences for a greater cause, a great and mighty force was able to be assembled by the combined forces of the shinobi world but facing such an extremely powerful opponent has proven to be too much. Valiantly they have fought but the Juubi effortlessly wiped them out like reeds drowned by the tempestuous rush of a violently cascading river. In the end the beast was sealed but the price of victory was as bitter as defeat for all save I have perished in the process. For a long time I wished that I died that day along with my comrades."

"Naruto…." Bella muttered. "I'm sorry" She then said, feeling a bit guilty for making the shinobi recount his past and made him feel such a horrible feeling of sadness and desolation.

"Nothing to be sorry about Bella." Naruto said flashing a jovial beam.

"Oh please do go on. We're about to get to the exciting part" Alice eagerly said wanting to hear the rest of the curious tale.

"The next thing I knew, I woke up thousands of years later on an island in the west of Bahamas. And as fate would have it a steam ship, the Isabel, was passing by on its way to England from a largely unsuccessful exploration to the South Americas."Naruto said in a lively voice, seemingly regaining his happy go lucky personality back. "Oh oh oh….you want to hear something interesting?" He then said ecstatically with a wide smile on his face.

"What?" Edward inquired, unable to read Naruto's thoughts.

"Remember that closet pervert, Mike Newton? I actually met his great grandfather way before. Dr. Michael Newton. He was the physician aboard the steam ship Isabel, a good man." Naruto said musingly as he sifted through his memory.

Suddenly Bella's eyes widened as if she remembered something. "So that boy on that picture hanging at Mr. Newton's sports shop…that was really you?" She then inquired with a singular expression on her face.

"Yeah, that's him." Emmett chuckled that made everyone snigger. "Noticed the crappy jumpsuit he's wearing?" He then continued in a roaring belly laugh.

"Hey! That's an official ninja uniform I'll have you know!" Naruto burst out hysterically while Bella and the rest of the Cullens sniggered. "How about you wise guy, I remembered the first time I saw you. You look as if you were mauled by a bear." He then sneered comically.

"I was mauled by a bear." Emett replied in an awkward voice.

"Yeah, and you shat your pants remember…" Naruto riposted but was cutoff.

"Stop!" Emmett said as he covered Naruto's mouth with his hand "Come on dude you promised not to tell anyone." He then muttered embarrassedly in a low voice.

"You started it." Naruto replied childishly. There was an awkward silence between him and Emmett before the two suddenly burst in to laughter that made everyone chuckle with them as well.

"Weirdos" Rosalie scowled though she herself can't help but let out a snigger.

Everything seemed perfect; a moment of pure familial happiness that insulated them from the clutching weariness of immortal existence, but amidst the merriment Naruto felt a throbbing searing pain in his chest as if his insides were on fire.

"Arrgghhhh!" Naruto screamed as the pain quickly mounted beyond his threshold while all his strength was seemingly zapped away like blood gushing from ruptured flesh.

"Naruto what's happening? Naruto!" Carlisle inquired in a fretful and worried voice as he along with Alice caught the shinobi as the latter fell on the floor.

At that point Jake came in. Worried that Bella was dead he came to confront Edward but was surprised to see the woman she love pregnant with the vampire's child while Naruto is on the floor squirming in unfathomable agony. "What the hell is happening here?" His eyes widened as he could only mutter in an airy voice interlaced with horrific bewilderment.

 **-End**

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 **Hey there folks!**

 **I hope you enjoyed reading! Sorry I wasn't able to update for the longest time. Currently, I'm taking my MBA at the university, and at the moment I am working on my thesis, which unfortunately is very time and brainpower consuming. I will try to continue writing the story whenever there is available time, and hopefully I could update soon.**

 **Anyways, all inputs and suggestions that will help improve the story is always welcomed, and if you guys have questions feel free to post them on the review section so that I could easily see them.**

 **See you awesome people next chapter!**

 **Cheerio :)**


	27. Chapter 27: The Pain Equilibrium

Jake angrily walked out of the Cullen's house, befuddled by the volatile amalgamation of burning sadness and gnawing frustration. In his current state of mind he was confused to the last degree and unable to think straight.

The baby's rapid growth has caused Bella's health to significantly deteriorate fast and without Naruto to heal her it was his fear that she'll soon succumb to death. Edward pleaded Jake to convince Bella to have it aborted but to no avail; with stubborn nobility she all but refused, thinking that Carlisle can turn her in to a vampire the last minute.

This, along with the knowledge that if worse comes to worst she would most certainly die has ticked Jake off beyond his threshold. Fumingly, he threw his jacket on the ground while the pace of his breathing increased significantly and his head stiffened a little from the brewing fury inside of him. Gripping his bike's hand bar tightly, a growl came out of his mouth as he tightly grits his teeth. Then with some of his anger escaping, he vented it out by violently kicking the bike it into the woods, wrecking the machine from the superhuman force of impact.

With his thoughts all over the place, Jake jumped towards the forest and phased before he landed, tearing through his clothes which fell in to the ground in a tattered shower rags. Frantically, he then ran at extreme speeds attainable only through his wolf form, howling to the others of his pack as the image of Bella in grave danger from the thing inside her flashed unceasingly inside his head.

"Is it true Jacob?!" Paul asks telepathically as soon as he joined Jake.

"What will it be?" Quil supplemented, in both curiosity and uneasiness.

"It's growing fast." Paul eyes widened, reading Jake's thoughts about his earlier encounter.

At this point the other members of the pack joined them, expressing their own thoughts in mind with regards to the dire predicament.

"Dangerous."

"Monstrosity."

"An abomination!"

"On our land?"

"We can't allow it!" The wolves concurred as they paced around, circling Jake.

Suddenly, Sam arrived, launching himself atop the stacked logs, letting out a mighty growl that instantly caught the attention of the entire pack, silencing them.

"We have to protect the tribe. What they've bred won't be able to control its thirst. Every human will be in danger!" Sam roared grimly.

"We are ready." Jared affirmed, in with a hard expression on his telepathic voice, ready to destroy the threat at any given time.

"No time to waste!" Paul growled mirthlessly that made the other wolves look at each other.

"Now?" Jake inquired apprehensively. Worried for Bella's safety.

"We must destroy it before it's born" Sam said telepathically in a stern tone.

"You mean, kill Bella?" Seth muttered, horrified.

"Her choice affects us all." Sam responded.

"Bella's human! Our protection applies to her!" Leah reasoned, shocked of what lengths his ex-boyfriend and now Alpha is willing to do in order for what he perceives the greater good. Furthermore, she feared that an altercation with the Cullen's would force Naruto's hand that would've left him with no choice but to destroy her pack. However, with the rapidity if impending nightmare she glimpsed an image on Jake's mind and saw Naruto visibly being devoured by an all-consuming ailment. "Jake what's happening to…" She was about to inquire but was suddenly cutoff by another wolf's telepathic voice.

"She's dying anyway!" Paul exclaimed that made Jake glared at him.

"We have real enemies to fight tonight!" Sam roared in fury.

"Tonight?" Jacob inquired, anxious. While Seth, Embry, and Leah whimpered upon hearing their Alpha.

"You will fight with us, Jake!" Sam commanded using his Alpha voice, forcing the latter to submit to his demands.

The two snarled at each other intensely as Jake reluctantly lowered himself to the ground. Until the image of Bella flashed before her eyes and realized that the girl she loved was in in danger from his Alpha's orders.

"I...will...not! I am the grandson of Ephraim Black. I am the grandson of a chief! I wasn't born to follow you, or anyone else!" Jacob exclaimed, gaining the strength to stand up to Sam and break the former's command with his own new fond Alpha voice.

And with that, he ran past the Alpha which snapped angrily at his side as he passed. Charging straight in to the mountains unceasingly until he realized that he could no longer hear the thoughts of Sam nor that of the other wolves.

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"What in blue blazes" Naruto said in wonderment as he found himself in a strange but familiar locus.

Turning his gaze, he saw the walls of Konoha, then sweeping it back the shinobi affirmed that he was standing in the demesnes of an acquainted forest he customarily strolled in his younger days. A smile escaped his lips as he saw the drooping boughs enfolded him with arms of soft verdure, and seemed to draw him in; and shafts of yellow sunshine rifted the high trees, to aureole the secret headquarters he and Konohamaru built on the hollowed out trunk of an enormous tree were emerald moss and patches of small but fragrant wild flowers bloomed about the darkly writhing coils of its enormous roots.

All around the shinobi, were the great beeches fresh with their new-born foliage, he also saw some familiar trees that were twisted and knotted and were heavy with centurial incrustations of bark, some were humped and misshapen with the growth of unremembered years; but there was an air of nostalgia about them, together with a tranquil friendliness.

Sifting through his mind, Naruto realized that the scene was something from his past memory. He remembered clearly that he was just twelve by then when this particular link of his life happened; that year, the snow of an austere winter had melted away in a week of halcyon warmth; and the land was filled with the tender green and chrysolite and chrysoprase of early spring.

"Hey, big bro Naruto!" Suddenly a voice said in a jovial tone that caught the shinobi's attention.

Looking back to the voice's origins, at a sun warmed glade, he saw that it was Konohamaru along with Moegi and Udon.

Seeing them Naruto's was elated, his heart quickened in both excitement and joy. "Hey!" He then greeted with a big smile on his face.

"What are you doing here big bro Naruto? I thought you were on a mission with Sakura-chan and Sasuke-kun?" Konohamaru queried, somewhat confused.

"Well…uhmm…you see…" Naruto staggered as he assembled a premise that is believable enough for credence.

For a second Konohamaru silently looked at the blonde with a rather inquiring stare. "Oh, I get it. This is a part of your mission that's why you can't tell us." He then hypothesized jovially after a few moments of reflection.

"Errr…that's right." Naruto chuckled with a weird laugh as he scratched his head from the sheer awkwardness of it all. "Hey wait a minute. What are you three doing here by the way? This is already quite deep in the forest, dont ya' think?" He then opted to diverge from the topic but noticed that the three froze awkwardly then exchanged glances upon hearing him as if they're hiding something.

Suddenly, Konohamru, Moegi and Udon huddled together as if to have an emergency team meeting, making Naruto a little bit suspicious.

"Should we tell him?" Moegi inquired.

"Are you sure we can trust him with this?" Udon supplemented.

"Of course we can trust him!" Konohamaru exclaimed with burning fervor, looking highly at Naruto.

"Ugh guys?" Naruto started in a blasé voice and with a deadpan countenance on his face. "I'm just standing right here yah know!" He then comically exclaimed. "Okay, spill it out! What mischief are you three up to now?" He continued, suspiciously questioning the trio with his arms crossed.

"Come, we'll show you." Konohamaru said gleefully as he pulled Naruto by the hand and lead him to a deeper part of the forest where stood a great ancient tree, near a hidden spring with crystal clear waters flowing soothingly in to a narrow rivulet that nourished the many strange flora and unfamiliar blossoms on its rim.

"Why did you guys take me here….." Naruto inquired but was cutoff.

"Sssshhh!" Hissed the trio with lifted fingertips, enjoining silence.

"Oh sorry." Naruto said sheepishly in a much more hushed voice. "What are we doing here again?" He then continued, inquiring in the same manner.

"Look" Konohamaru said in a soft whisper, pointing at the tree were a firebird just perched on one of its decussating branch.

It was a magnificent creature to behold; covered in shimmering golden feathers with scarlet mottlings on their tip, along a crimson and emerald crest on its crown that continued well in to its nape; while its under tail was similar to that of a bird of paradise but far more fuller in color and iridescence, composed of long elegant opalesque deck feathers that sparkled with kaleidoscopic hue like a self-contained rainbow as the light of the vernal sun caressed them with its golden light. For a while the firebird lingered, pecking on the golden fruits of the ancient tree; then with hunger sated, it flew away majestically overhead of Naruto, Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon, leaving a smile aesthetic admiration on their faces.

"Whoa" Naruto muttered in amazement and awe.

"Cool huh? She always comes in this very spot at the exact same time." Konohamaru commented heartily with a proud gleam on his face, wanting to impress his idol.

"Yeah. Very cool." Naruto complimented, giving the trio a thumbs up. This reminded him of the happiest and joy filled hours he had in an ocean of misery and melancholy that was his life when he awakened from his millennia long slumber.

Weirdly, all of this confused Naruto to the last degree for he wasn't sure anymore if what he's experiencing at the moment was just merely a dream or was it real life, and the existence he lived back at Forks and the Cullens' was just a dubitable mirage; a weird, bliss charged hallucination, so bizarrely diversified, so replete with wondrous adventures and haply attended by supernatural perils and victories.

"Big bro Naruto? Is there a problem?" Konohamaru inquired, his head slightly tilted in befuddlement.

"Nah. I'm good." Naruto responded with a gentle smile. "I promise to protect you and all of my friends as long as I live." He then exclaimed to Konohamaru with fiery fervor as he placed his hands on the latter's shoulders.

"Please don't make promises you couldn't keep." Konohamaru said somberly, bowing down his head.

"I'm not gon'na run away. I never go back on my word. That is my ninja way." Naruto vouchsafed a most solemn vow, assuring the younger shinobis in front of him that he will never abandon them.

"Then why did you let us die!" Konohamaru retorted grimly, raising up his head and revealing a decrepit countenance of a long dead person in which the white gleaming bone was peering behind the shriveled up skin that was pulled tight against his noseless skull.

"No…...no…" Naruto gasped, taking a step back, while loosely muttering his supplication in horror with quivering lips and in an airy voice; perturbed beyond belief as his heart sank from both mind shattering terror and unforgiving guilt that came like talons steeped in fresh venom.

With sharp abruptness, many skeletal hands burst out of the ground from the legions of wraiths and apparitions of the uncountable dead shinobi crawling out of the soil that itself oozed red from their spilled blood.

At first they were unmoving and seemingly inert but like a scene from some horrific nightmare they stirred abruptly like autumn leaves in a sudden wind; as if enthralled by some sinister maleficium they then walked gauntly towards Naruto, surrounding him in every direction, encircling him an in inescapable wall of the ghastly and macabre terror.

"Why did you abandon us?…Why did you let us die?….You did this to us. You have forsaken us." They cried in a hollow droning monotone of weary disillusionment and never-ending suffering such as the restless dead must know from blindly groping throughout the eons of sepulchral night.

"I…I didn't mean to…..I'm sorry…..I really am." Naruto muttered brokenly in a tormented and anguished tone as he heard the dolorous groans and agonizing cries of those he had sworn to protect but failed.

Kakashi, with flesh that time and the worm had gnawed even to the bone were among the undead ninjas as they hobblingly came towards Naruto with glaring eyes that saw only the voidness of death; and beneath the sorcerous control of a diabolical necromantic art, the evilly animated corpses began to assail the blonde who at the moment was taken aback by the hellish vista that chilled his blood and curdled it upon his heart.

Paralyzed while muttering his grief-stricken implorations for forgiveness and his anguish for failing them, Naruto just stood there shuddering and subsequently crawling in to a fetal position as the reanimated dead began clawing at his face and body with their fleshless fingers, unable to hear the voice of their former comrade.

Anon, a wall of darkness mounted and enveloped the landscape in its stygian embrace; then everything vanished in a swirl of broken images. Naruto felt like falling in to a deep abyss while rime gathered palely on his hair, and his fingertips were benumbed from an intense cold, as if the very void itself has breathe its winds of gray desolation upon him.

Shortly there came the sensation of impact and for a while he lay supine, but on his prone position he seemed to have heard noises that were similar to that of sundering earth, and a clangor of downfallen slabs. The air darkened as if with the hovering of seasonless night, and thereupon like a breathing of nocturnal darkness an eldritch sensation hovered through his body, and it seemed that the black wings of ages passed right through his soul, beating prodigiously from void to void, forcing him to open his eyes.

Like a man who flies trivially from dream to baleful dream of some demoniac night, the shinobi realized that he was lying on some strange island that seemed to be lobbed within the abyssal pit of the nether void. The said island was wrought of unearthly matter that was sable in the darkest shade of black but glowed from the star-like spots akin to the eternal night-sky of outer-space; while around it was nothing but the darkness of void and some strange cold blowing from an unfathomable gulf.

Turning his gaze, Naruto felt a faint hope as he saw a tapered pillar of light slanting at the midpoint of the desolated isle. Gathering his strength, he strode towards the light then as he came closer realized that there was a small pool of water from where the pallid beam touched.

Weary in both mind and body, Naruto opted to quell some of his thirst. However, his eyes widened sharply in a new and darker terror as he beheld his image on the water's somber surface, for in it, his face was reflected as if seen after death. His rigid features, as he gazed upon it, became marked with the green and bluish marbling of decomposition; and the withering flesh fell in on the sharp bones, and displayed the visible fretting of the worm.

Naruto quickly desisted and withdrew, uncertain if what he saw was just an illusion or an oracular vision of his doom.

He opted to get away from the accursed oasis as fast and as far as he can but a mortal weakness was upon him, and he felt a sickness as of quick coming death. Shadows were woven transversely on his eyes; but through the shadows, he felt dimly the instant blackening of his face, and his cheeks fall ruinously along while his lips curled back on the teeth like that of a long dead cadaver. Fleeing faster came to his muddled mind but he was soon made aware of his own limbs that rotted beneath him, pace by pace, and felt the quick sloughing of his flesh in corruption from the bone.

Suddenly, the island was racked with violent tremors that only intensified with every passing moment. With the last of his strength, Naruto lifted his head and beheld in horror as he realized that he was in no island at all but in the palm of a macro-cosmic titan that was glaring at him contemptuously, regarding him with glowing eyes that were cold and malignant as long-dead stars.

Perusing further with his fast rotting eyes, an uncanny feeling of smallness and triviality was instantly branded in to his soul as he saw the true nature of his captor and realized who it is.

The said colossus looked like a solid black silhouette of a youth riddled with iridescent starry-like spots akin to that of a cloudless night sky. A great platinum halo etched with unknown gleaming runes, and eternally burning with iridescent flames of emerald and azure hovered above its head like a crown. Its body, along with what looked like diaphanous wings or tendrils on its back that seems to be made from long streams of light gracefully flittered in to the dark emptiness of the void and was engulfed in a fiery blue-white aura that seemed to distort the very fabric of reality and decussate the boundaries between the material, spiritual, conceptual and metaphysical planes while numerous flickering orbs of energy similar to that of miniature stars continuously form, pulse and nova as they orbit around the being like electrons on a nucleus that coruscated with eldritch glints making him all but intolerably dazzling and blinding to behold.

Dumbfounded, an existential fear began to grip his mind and he was powerless to stop it. "But your dead…Errea…" He then muttered in dread but wasn't able to finish the sentence for his tongue shriveled before he was done.

On the brink of death, he fell flat on his belly but life lingered in him, together with the dire knowledge of his doom, and he has somehow preserved what little of his hearing and sight.

"A price to pay." An eerie echoing voice issued from the macro-cosmic titan, coldly reverberating like thunder in the heavens that filed the hollow and tremendous space of the void as his gargantuan hand began to close in to a crushing grip.

At that point, in the dark agony of his live corruption, Naruto tossed feebly to and fro, and crawled inchmeal on the titan's palm in a feeble attempt to escape but to no avail.

Suddenly, the shinobi stopped on his tracks sharply, being beset by a violent convulsion as his brain was liquefied and turned to gray mold, and the sinews were parted from his bones, and the marrow dried up. In the end, he laid supine and shrunken, in the tomb's final posture, as if doing obeisance to the god of death and destruction who held his lifeless body in its palm.

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(Cullen's House)

Azure eyes fluttered open gazing on the fluorescent lamp illuminating his room. Moving his head Naruto saw Leah asleep on a couch beside him, exhausted from dividing her time between guarding Bella and the Cullen's, with Seth and Jake from unexpected attacks from the other wolves, along with night long vigils beside the shinobi.

"Naruto. I'm so glad you're awake." Esme said maternally as she came to check on the blonde, letting out a sigh of relief and joy upon seeing her foster son regain consciousness.

"How long was I out?" Naruto inquired, rearing up a little.

"Take it easy. You were in coma for nearly four days." Carlisle said in a gentle voice as he too entered. With vampiric senses he heard the elated Esme while he was on the living room and rushed in to see the good news for himself.

Soon most of the Cullen's came his room except Edward who at the moment was with Bella. They were all overjoyed to see that the blonde was alright that even the usually aloof Rosalie let out a smile and was the first one to hug him.

At that point, Leah woke up and the first thing she saw was Naruto's blue eyes looking at her with a gleam of unbound affection. "Naruto!" She then said, throwing herself to the shinobi, hugging him ardently.

"Arrgghh" Naruto groaned, feeling a dark and uncanny pain deep inside him as if his heart is slowly being rotted by some hostile power.

"Sorry, did I hurt you?" Leah inquired apologetically.

"No" Naruto assured. "This is something else." He then said grabbing his chest as the pain became momentarily unbearable.

Quickly, Carlisle rushed to Naruto's aide but wasn't able to neither diagnose the agent responsible for the shinobi's strange malady nor abate the latter's searing pain.

"What's going on here?" Jake inquired as he and Seth also came inside the threshold of Naruto's room and saw the shinobi in pain.

"He regained consciousness but he's having another episode." Carlisle explained as he tried to alleviate the shinobi's suffering.

With sharp abruptness the pain mysteriously stopped and Naruto stood up as if all is well, and indeed he proclaimed that it is, though all could see the feverish illness that's visibly devouring the shinobi and slowly desecrating his flesh.

"This is no ordinary sickness." Carlisle stated the obvious.

"Yeah. I know…..I don't think I can get out of this mess too." Naruto smiled with noble courage while the vinous purple of his cheeks was mottled with a strange pallor. Trying to quip and lighten situation as he began to assemble in his mind his last soliloquy when the time comes.

"Naruto! Don't say that!" Leah exclaimed as tears welled up her eyes.

An uncanny silence permeated the room as everyone wordlessly lamented in despair the thought of Naruto's inexorable passing. Their anguish was beyond words as they couldn't accept the looming doom of the high-spirited and jovial friend who had been an important part of their lives.

Then from all this silence Jake bethought himself of the means by which Seth was healed that time he was poisoned by Aldinach's venomous sap. "There might be another way." He then mumbled in a voice of person who thinks allowed that caused everyone to turn their attention to him.

"Do you remember that time when Seth got poisoned…" Jake said but was cutoff.

"No! I know what you're about to suggest and the answer is no!" Naruto said vehemently.

"Just hear me out." Jake said, trying to reason with the blonde.

"Jake, for all we know he's the one behind this." Naruto responded with a hard expression on his face.

"Then the more he knows how to fix your condition." Jake retorted as he was beginning to get exasperated with the obstinate blonde's headstrong stubbornness despite the possibility of a remedy that could revitalize the latter's failing health and stave him off from death.

"Uhmmm excuse me." Emmett inquired in a confused tone and a weird expression on his face. "Mind sharing what the hell you two are talking about?" He then continued.

"Alex" Naruto said grimly that caused a babble of disputation to rise amongst the Cullens' who instantly became most doubtful of Jake's suggestion, fearing even the thought of the unstable demigod.

Jake and Seth however, unaware of the devastating mortal-combat which ensued between Naruto and Alex were wholly baffled by the strange reaction of the Cullens from a well-intentioned suggestion, considering that it could save the life of one of their own.

Leah, on the other hand was silent. She knew very well what happened but was also well aware that they don't have any choice but to take the risk and supplicate the young man's aide lest Naruto succumb to the strange illness that was consuming him.

For a full hour they disputed the soundness and indeed even the saneness of the plan, with Naruto completely and vehemently being against it, but as the pain mounted once again he was forced to scornfully relent.

"Besides we don't even know where that bastard is." Naruto sneered in a last ditch effort to dissuade them.

"I can't reach him on his phone." Seth remarked holding his cell phone.

"I think I could help." Alice suggested though with a certain degree of hesitance.

"Alice don't do this. You know what happened last time." Jasper pleaded worriedly as he recalled how his mate was almost driven in to madness two years ago in the school cafeteria when she tried to use her gift on the young man.

"I'll be alright Jasper." Alice said in a soft voice and with a gentle smile, caressing Jasper's face gently with her hand as she prepared to open her clairvoyant sight.

Channeling all her concentration she entered a trance that enabled her to yield visions of many things. Then finally she found what she's looking for as she saw Alex who, in her vision, was pensively gazing upon the sunset.

Suddenly however, darkness fluttered before her eyes and everything went blind as she now has to bear the brunt of the demigod's divine power weaved in to powerful defensive spells.

Embittered by the anguish of Nyarlathotep's revelation and weary of being hurt over and over again, Alex isolated himself from the rest of the world, abandoning the humans he once loved and protected to be consumed by darkness, while focusing his power to fortify himself with extremely powerful barriers and enchantments that would send in to a torment filled pilgrimage of the nine hells the souls of those who dare disturb his inner silence, to be ripped apart and devoured by the foul demons who reside on the stygian abysses and fiery rivers of the infernal realm.

Opening her eyes Alice gasped in horror for she now found herself standing in a dune of a strange desert wasteland. The sand of this desert was not like the sand of any other mundane desert and was like the gray dust of corroded planets or black ashes of long extinguished suns.

The dark, orb-like mountains which rise from its wrinkled and pitted plain are not all its own, for some are fallen asteroids half-buried in that abysmal sand. Things have crept in from the neighboring hells, whose incursion is forbid by the ever watchful gods of all proper and well-ordered lands; but there are no such gods in this desert, where live the banished Baatezu along with their followers of lesser demons that have been exiled from Baator after losing an ancient war with the shadowy demon-lords of Nessus who now rule the fiery realm with tyrannical cruelty.

For uncountable hours Alice threaded the interminable sea of ashen sand that stretched wide on that unhallowed desert, passing great pits where meteors had sunk from sight; and divers-colored jewels that she could not name glared or glistened from the dust. There were fallen cypresses that rotted by crumbling mausoleums, on whose time blotted marble creeped snake-like creatures with bloodlike orbs in their mouths. Hidden by the low ridges, were cities of which no pillar remained unbroken; they were vast and ancient cities lapsing shard by shard, atom by atom, to feed infinities of desolation.

Nonetheless, she dragged her exhausted limbs over vast ruins that had once been mighty temples; and fallen gods frowned in rotting limestone or leered in riven porphyry at her feet. Over all there was an evil silence, broken only by the moaning wind or the snarling of malevolent creatures that were made aware of her presence.

Now, as she toiled on, Alice noticed the sunlight altered strangely and realized the red orb illuminating the hellish landscape was nearing the mounded horizon from which it inevitably sank and smoldered in a belt of miasmal haze, where floating dust from all the shattered fanes and forgotten cities was mixed with evil vapors coiling skyward from black enormous gulfs lying beyond the utmost rim that bordered the gates of Gehenna. In that light, the entire waste, the rounded mountains, the serpentine hills, the lost cities, were drenched with phantasmal and darkening scarlet.

It was then that Alice heard a diabolic chuckle on the hillside above her. The sound began with a sharp abruptness that startled the vampire beyond all reason, and continued endlessly, never varying its single note, like the mirth of a hungry demon who just found its next victim.

She turned and saw a strange shadow-like entity that moved pace by pace with her own dusk-light elongated shadow, along with it she caught an utterly sickening odor, foul as the frightful, soul upheaving stench of an uncovered grave.

With a fearful intentness Alice stared at the creature, which with all its mephitic characteristics seemed to mean her no harm.

However, as the final light of the fiery orb ceased and the entire vista was engulfed in stygian darkness, Alice beheld in horror as the shadow creature transformed in to a revolting monstrosity. Its dark ghostly skin erupted in some foul nauseating black sludge and from it emerged a demon of decay which strode about her direction with incredible strides and halted only when it loomed almost upon her in the sable night.

The exact nature of this monstrous creature was difficult to express in words for even looking at it is a frightening confrontation with madness. For a split second Alice was stilled by both fear and terror; and following quickly upon that terror, her gorge rose within her through excess of revulsion as she saw the demon up close.

It looks like the horrific rotting cadaver of a giant, who, from its fretted and tattered flesh worms crawled in by the hundreds while its bloated belly was host to a mass of hungry maggots that swarmed in along and undulant wave around its putrid body that constantly decompose, and pools of filth dribbled around its feet as it moved.

Looking at its face, or rather, what she assumed to be a face, Alice saw two oblique and scarlet eyes opened and glowed like hellish coals, and two ophidian fangs glittered in an ape-like mouth. Suddenly, the creature's gaunt arm arose and fleshless, talon-like fingers reached out and fumbled for her throat.

Horrified and couldn't bear it any longer, Alice mustered all her strength and flee with trembling limbs, in a prone, precipitate flight she ran from those fumbling fingers that hung always on the darkness behind her.

Then to her relief when she heard a familiar voice, it was Naruto's. "Release!" The shinobi exclaimed in a commanding voice, unleashing a wave of chakra that freed Alice from the malign influence of Alex's diabolical defensive spell.

As her clairvoyant absorption ended, Alice once again found herself back in Naruto's room and saw everyone still in their respective place before she entered the trance, seemingly only a few seconds have passed. By her side was her worried mate, Jasper, of whom she hugged tightly with her trembling arms. "I know where he is." She then muttered with quivering lips, still shaken from the unfathomable horrors she has been subjected to.

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(Port Angeles)

The soft diffused rays of twilight bated the sea and the entire landscape of Port Angeles in a mellow ochre hue as the sun began to sink in to the horizon. On a secluded section of the parking lot of The Landing Mall was Alex, standing in a solemn vigil, gazing pensively on the fiery orb as it descended in to the watery sea.

Ever since he recovered sufficiently from his injuries and grew strong enough to move around, a few days after he awakened from coma, it has been his invariable custom to wistfully watch the sunset in that very spot, leaning on the railings, thinking of all his troubles and problems, and the ways his life should've gone but didn't.

Now, the sun has already set and the darkness which briefly enveloped the vistas of the tourist trap town was ousted back in to the shadows by the effulgence of electric lightings, and the pale rays of the rising moon, along with the shimmering of the stars that declared themselves boldly in to the night sky.

For some reason he himself couldn't comprehend, Alex stayed later that day than he normally would, staring blankly in to the void for no reason save for the trivial fulfillment of a compulsion he couldn't describe nor explain. Suddenly he detected the presence of someone nearby. This isn't some random stranger he thought, as with his innate ability he was able to empathically feel the thought waves of the person. Though admittedly, his psionic powers isn't very much attuned these past few days, and indeed it was only the shadow of its former potency as he was yet to recover his full strength.

From the mysterious lurker's superficial thoughts Alex affirmed that indeed the former was in to him but due to his condition the young man wasn't able to conduct a deeper mind scan to divine its intentions. With swift strides and a somewhat slight but trivial hesitation the lurker continued to approach him steadily.

Alex remained calm but vigilant, clenching his fist he prepared to summon the sword of the sun god in hand just in case things get ugly as every passing moment became more and more intense.

Much to his relief however when he realized that the lurker was just an ordinary person and poses no threat to him, though he can't help but be puzzled by his intentions as the latter approached him.

"Hey" The stranger greeted in a cordial and nonchalant manner. By his physical appearance he seemed to be a fairly successful businessman or stock broker of some kind in his late twenties or early thirties, judging by his executive casual outfit and the shiny Rolex watch on his wrist.

"Hello" Alex greeted back, trying to be polite though there was a strange tremble in his voice that one could easily mistake for edginess or apprehension but was really the outward manifestation of bewilderment.

"Beautiful night isn't it?" The man inquired in a genial and kindly tone with a seemingly equally friendly smile on his face.

"I….suppose." Alex replied, easing down a little.

"Nice accent. Is it real?" The man sniggered, though with a somewhat weird look on his eye.

"Why would I fake an accent?" Alex replied more confused than ever that his words were stretched in an elongated cadence.

"Okay, I think we had enough chitchat. How much?" The stranger said salaciously with a creepy smile while ogling the young man.

"What?" Alex issued his counter question with a wary suspicion as his brows contracted in to a single line above his narrowing eyes. "What on Earth are you talking about blud?"

"You heard me. How much for a good time?" The stranger expounded in a more sensual voice and with a lewd smile widening on his face. "You're new here aren't you? I usually pay fifty bucks but since you're prettier than most boys around here I'll give you a hundred."

"Dude, I'm not for sale or anything." Alex's eyes narrowed on the man as a deeply engraved frown emanated on the countenance of his face from the distasteful indecent proposal.

"Sure you're not…" The man said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Fine, fine….since I love the accent, two hundred. What do you say?"

"Please, get out of my sight before I hurt you." Exasperated, Alex hissed grimly.

The stranger turned around and started to walk away, seemingly losing his sensual appetite as Alex glared at him with eyes that were cold and blue like the ice of ancient floes. Suddenly, however, after a few steps he turned around with another proposition.

"How about if I make it two fifty hmm? Think about it." He then said persistently, irritating the already irked young man.

"How about I cut you open with my car key and strangle you with your own guts until your face burst like a ripe plum? Hmm?" Chagrinned, Alex threatened in a sarcastic but deathly serious voice, clenching his fist, inordinately suppressing a great desire to knock out cold the persistent and irritating roué.

"Oooh kinky." The debauched stranger grinned, much to the unpleasant befuddlement of the young man whose brow twitched in annoyance. "Ok fine you win, you extorting greedy little pig. Three hundred bucks but that's it, that is all you're gon'na get. Plus, we're doing it bareback and I'm gon'na cumm inside you. Take it or leave it." He then offered his final proposal while the lascivious smile on his face widened in to that of a seasoned sexual predator.

Incensed and obviously irritated to his flash point Alex's eyes glowed with white incandescence. "Piss off you nasty disgusting pervert!" He then thundered in a growl-like roar, similar to that of an angry blood-thirsty demon, giving the horrified lecher quite a scare that the latter ran frantically for his life from what he thought to be a monster.

"Well that ruined my day." Alex sighed after a while of stoic silence as he prepared to teleport, deciding to call it a day and go home.

"Hey" A voice said that caught the young man's attention.

" _Jesus Christ what fresh hell is this now."_ Alex thought in exasperation, thinking it was another perverted John. "Dude seriously! How many times do I have to tell you people I'm not a bloody rentboy!" He then snapped but his wrath quickly died out in to blushing embarrassment as he turned around and saw Jake and Leah, the two were eyeing him with a strange look of shock and confusion on their faces.

"Is everything aright Alex?" Jake inquired in an elongated cadence while Leah behind him just scoffed.

"Yeah….yeah, I'm good." Alex replied shamefacedly, blushing red like a tomato. "So uhm Jake, Leah….funny seeing you guys here." He then greeted sheepishly, desperately trying to stir away from the uncomfortable awkwardness of the earlier incident. "So how are you guys doing?"

"I'm afraid it's not good." Jake said solemnly.

"It's about Naruto's condition, isn't it?" Alex said unflappably. "So it finally happened huh?"

"You knew about this?" Jacob inquired, perplexed.

"I knew it…..I knew this is his doing." Leah burst out in anger as she stepped forward and berated Alex, pointing her finger derogatively at the young man.

"Leah!" Jacob growled in remonstration, chastising her. "Sorry about that, she's…uhm…a little upset about it." He then said euphemistically to try and assuage the situation.

"Upset is an understatement." Leah hissed as she continued to eye Alex quite darkly.

"No worries." Alex said with a gentle smile. "But I assure you I have nothing to do with this." He then said to both Quileute in a slightly more serious voice.

"But you know what's happening to him?" Jake inquired hoping to get some answers.

"Hmm" The expression on Alex's face turned hard as he hummed in contemplation, torn between two decisions. "Very well." He then said solemnly as he eventually relented.

"He murdered my friend, Errealth. But before succumbing to death, Errealth placed a curse by imbedding a shard, a piece of him, inside of Naruto's body that will slowly flense and consume the latter until he is reduced to nothing but ashes and gore." Alex explained in a soft but solemn voice that made Leah's wrath die out like a feeble flame blown out by the winds of despair. "I'm amazed he's still alive up to this point, every single one of his pain receptors must be firing, causing torment and agony that for a lack of better term, unfathomably excruciating."

"Is there a way to lift the curse…is it in your power to do it?" Jake inquired in a hollowed voice after knowing what really happened to Naruto.

"Can you help him? Please." Leah said beseechingly as tears flowed from her eyes; putting her pride aside and imploring the aid of a person that just moments ago she hated with every fiber of her being.

"I'm afraid the answer is no." Alex said in a voice that was gentle and equable but Leah knew better and detected the deceit behind it.

"I see.…" Jacob nodded crestfallenly, about to bid farewell but was suddenly cutoff by Leah.

"He's lying Jake." Leah hissed. "There's something he's not letting us on." She then continued in a suspicious voice that was steadily being interlaced with rage.

"Leah, I know it must be hard for you to hear all this but….." Alex said in a calm and empathic tone trying to mitigate Leah's pain but he too was cutoff.

"Shut it! You can't fool me with that fake nice-guy act!" Leah chided, looking directly at Alex's eyes with a steady unblinking glare, well aware that the latter know something that no one else knew.

"Stop it Leah….Alex I'm sorry about that man, we have to go." Jake said as he pulled Leah by the arm in attempt to avert the situation from worsening.

"No Jake!" Leah snapped, wrenching her arm back, making Jacob roll his eyes and face palm himself knowing that the former's temper just got the better of her again. "You're hiding something from us. I know you can help Naruto yet you choose not to. Why?" She then sternly interrogated Alex with a grim expression on her face and a steely edge in her questions as she menacingly moved forward while the latter paced back in response.

"He was cursed by a god. Who am I to interfere?" Alex said nonchalantly. At this point Jake finally noticed that for some reason his friend's demeanor has become cold, cynical and distrustful as if some emotionally devastating experience has fractured his psyche.

"He spared your life even after all the atrocities you committed! And this is how you repay his kindness?" Leah growled as she recollects the aftermath of the epic battle between the shinobi and the demigod.

"Yes, so very kind of him." Alex said sardonically with a deadpan expression on his face. "I have a rather large stab wound on my back by the way, a token of his clemency." He then continued in a mocking unctuous manner that made Leah only even more livid.

" _What's up with these two?"_ Jacob perplexingly thought as he stood aside, unable to relate with the topic. "Hey guys, break it up. Look, Alex, were kinda desperate here. Are you sure you can't lend us some help?" He then continued in a persuading tone.

"By that he meant can you be more useless?" Leah mockingly snorted with her arms crossed.

"I'm sorry Jake I can't help you this time." Alex replied, remaining tranquil and virtually unaffected. "I'm sorry you feel so much dedication to your misguided cause. Though tell you what….if you wish, return here in a few days, I could reanimate his lifeless corpse but after a while you wouldn't like what you'll see…or smell." He then continued in a somewhat unsympathetic tone, seemingly oblivious of Leah's brewing wrath.

"Do you know why Bella will never choose someone like you over Edward? It's because you're not even half the man he is. You're a stuck-up immature brat, not to mention a spineless coward who only gets through life with good looks and your dead parents' cash, take that away and what are you? You're nothing! But worse of all, it's because you have a talent for turning a blind eye. You're pathetic and you disgust me." Leah sneered contemptuously while she scolded Alex with a barrage of disparagingly scalding jibes that was slowly but surely pushing the latter to the point of raging madness.

" _Yikes. That was a little harsh."_ Jacob cringed as he heard Leah's sharp remarks. "That wasn't necessary Leah." He then admonishingly commented in an awkward voice.

"He deserves it. Besides, it's true…all of it is true." Leah sniffed, feeling neither regret nor remorse from what she said.

However, both Leah and Jacob was flummoxed and a bit creeped out as Alex started to laugh like an insane person. "Insult me as much as you wish and to your heart's desire but the fact remains that your precious Naruto will die in the worst possible way and you will never be able to change that no matter what you do. Perhaps it would be for the best. His continued existence will only bring so much more death and misery." He then continued as he sobered up a little from cackling, firing back at Leah with a venomous snide.

"Shut up Alex, for your sake don't make her angrier than she already is." Jacob said anxiously in reprimand, trying to defuse the situation though he knew that they were already passed the point of no return and a violent confrontation is inevitable. "Leah, calm down." He then continued but his efforts were apparently trivial.

"Take that back." Leah said, about to phase in to her wolf form. Her fists were clenched and her jaws were seemingly fused as her teeth grit together in anger.

"No, I will not. But know this, if Naruto expires in such a pitiful and ignoble state then perish the thought of seeing him once more for he will never reach the pure-lands. He shall rot in the black shores of the netherworld for all eternity. In unimaginable filth and stench his naked soul will crawl while the demons of hell administer their innumerable torments that were so subtly devised to not only inflict unparalleled excruciation on his five senses but also flay his mind, driving it to extremes more terrible than madness, and take away the dearest treasure of his memories and leave unutterable foulness in its place. It will serve as the final penance for his crimes…the price to pay for his murder to achieve!" Alex said in a voice that was soft and apathetic at the beginning but sharply increased in intensity as it became filled with unrestrained abhorrence and hatred towards the shinobi as he progressed.

"You lie!" Leah roared disdainfully. At that point all her wrath unfolded as she transformed in to her wolf form. She then snarled menacingly, ignoring Jacob's telepathic appeals to calm down.

"Leah, No!" Jacob howled as he tried to stop her but it was too late for the latter's animalistic rage has already outpaced her reason.

Jacob was further baffled as he shifted his gaze to Alex, seeing the young man remained still and tranquil despite being face-to-face with certain death is indeed an odd sight. Upon further perusal, he saw a disturbing deeply graven grin assuming from the young man's lips as the latter slowly lifted his head.

At first, Jacob thought that Alex has slipped in to insanity from the fear of being confronted by an angry Leah in her wolf form, though this notion quickly perished as he saw the young man's eyes, they were glowing white as if with intense heat like incandescent filaments wreathed by a ghostly azure energy similar to the blue flames of burning sulphur, and from them a nasty glare was directed cruelly towards Leah with an open intention to kill.

At that particular moment Leah lunged herself towards Alex, wanting nothing more than to rip him apart with her claws and crush his skull under her jaws. But before her attack was able to connect, the young man flicked his wrist gently impelling her to be helplessly suspended in mid-air as if she was being held by an unseen force that paralyzed her nerves, causing her to lose control over the muscles in her body.

"How dare you, you dog!" Alex roared thunderously in an eerie voice that seemed to freeze the souls of those who heard it as his glowing eyes snapped in rage and his face became filled with frightening resentment. "Make no mistake, I may have been temporarily weakened by my past battle with your lover but I assure you I have more than enough power to kill you a million times over."

Around this time Jacob felt a weird feeling, an eldritch sensation or perhaps an uncanny vibration at the sides of his head from the progressively intensifying charged field that invisibly permeated the air. It would seem that when Alex becomes too emotionally charged so thus the environment around him.

"Arrogance and stupidity, indeed you and Naruto make such a good pair. You have no idea what nightmares he unleashed and yet you defend him naively. To tell you frankly, though I enjoy him writhing in agony there is nothing more I want but to see him dead. If you wish to join him in hell…that is alright with me too." He then snarled, gasping like a blood-thirsty demon as bolts of lightning fell from the sky and raked in to the sea and harbor below, causing much havoc from the horrified onlookers.

Noticing this, Jake quickly shifted in to his wolf form and leapt in between Leah and Alex before the latter could unleash the devastating power of his attack. "Alex don't do this." He then telepathically appealed to the latter's better senses while in a defensive stance.

"Move away Jake….or your life shall be forfeited as well." Alex growled in a guttural demonic voice that was like thunder that issued from the upper heavens while his eyes glowed ever so brightly and all around him manifested a chaotic dance of fluctuating energy.

At that point Jacob realized that Alex is no longer himself as the latter rampaged in a berserk like state. In truth however, this frenzied monstrosity of barely controlled chaos is the physical manifestation of his sadness, anger, anguish and pain that has built up overtime and coalesced in to a horrific vortex of emotional instability and near insanity that corrupted his mind in to a state of bloodthirsty rage which was unfortunately vented out of Leah.

"I know you won't kill me. You're not a monster. You're a good man and you're my friend." Transforming back in to his human form, Jake talked to Alex trustingly with a calm disposition and a gentle smile on his face that prompted the latter to break away from the chaotic trance and find his humanity back.

The blazing desire to obliterate inside of Alex's heart then receded and eventually snuffed along with the white glowing of his eyes, bringing back the bright sapphire blue in them as his senses raced back in to the threshold of consciousness and regain his nearly lost volition. Subsequently, the young man tranquilly performed a strange hand gesture that caused Leah to be enveloped in bright white light that seemingly vaporized her in to wisps of smoke that was instantly scattered by a passing sea breeze.

"What did you do?" Jake inquired, outraged.

"Don't worry. I just transported her a few miles away from here. She is completely unharmed, I assure you." Alex remarked in a much calmer voice that gave Jake much relief.

"I hope this means you reconsidered helping us?" Jake quipped, hopeful that Alex will lend them assistance.

"Jake" Alex started in a calm but solemn tightly controlled whisper. "If for an instance let's say I agreed to help you and eventually cured Naruto. In the end, the question is, was it all worth it? Will Bella choose you over Edward? Will everything you desire be fulfilled? Will that make you happy…?" Alex said in the most broken voice as he crestfallenly recollected how Bella deceived and seemingly mocked him for his folly and credulity in trusting her promises; he remembered how his heart grew sick with a darker despair than any he had yet known, and how the one-sided piteous love he once had for her perished with his former naïve and trusting self; leaving but ashes steeped in gall, along with a great emptiness and all-consuming revulsion that lead the demigod to renounce mankind and swear his allegiance to the forgotten gods beyond the barrier.

"Take my advice friend….never invest your emotions to someone who will eventually only hurt you in return." Alex said with a sad smile, in a voice that became fainter and fainter as he bade farewell to Jake and started to walk on, passing the now taciturn shape-shifter.

"If you don't help us Bella will die." Jacob said in a solemn and mirthless voice, hoping that Alex would reconsider if he knew what's at stake.

Hearing this, Alex stopped his pacing and turned his face half way towards Jacob. "She have chosen her fate." He said impassively and in a voice that was colder than the night of a bleak winter.

Then, like a stray thought, Alex disappeared. Whether he teleported away or just shrouded himself from the shape-shifter's visual and sensory spectrum, the latter couldn't tell.

Though one thing was certain that made Jacob feel despondent about; there was something in Alex's eyes that made him realizes that the young man's hatred for Naruto has now far outweighed the love he once felt for Bella. But what could've prompted the former to despise the shinobi in such a degree remained a mystery to him; and though he endlessly ran it through his head, it only generated more questions than a single satisfying answer.

 **-End**

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 **Hey there folks!**

 **I hope you enjoyed reading. Ah, finally I was able to complete writing this chapter down despite the grueling busy sched of alternating between job and school lol.**

 **I do apologize for its crudeness since I wrote this chapter and piece it together in my free time and thus I wasn't able to do much research that consequently resulted in to a less fluidic narrative.**

 **Most of you may have noticed the some scary and disturbing stuff in this chapter. Honestly I don't have any idea why I've made it that way. This is probably the darkest thing I wrote so far that my cousin (who's also my part-time beta reader) told me that this chapter is more like a horror story compared to the rest of what I previously written.**

 **As** **always, any suggestions and comments that will help improve that story is always welcomed.**

 **See you next chapter.**

 **Cheerio!**


	28. Chapter 28: The Final Incantation

(Cullen's House)

"I'm telling you it's a waste of time." Naruto muttered as he waited for Jake and Leah to return. It has already been three hours since they left and the shinobi had become a little bit edgy as well as troubled knowing that they're quest to save him, though noble, is ultimately futile due to the simple fact that the demi-god is one those people who want him dead.

"Would it kill you to be a little optimistic?" Rosalie chided, worried about his foster brother and at the same time peeved at what she thought to be pessimism on the latter's part.

"I'll be dead either way so…." Naruto retorted.

"Naruto don't say such things!" Esme exclaimed with teary eyes.

It took Naruto aback and made him taciturn upon seeing his foster mother hurt by the statement. Ever since he awakened from his millennia long slumber a certain emptiness has always nested deep in his heart. Later on, this emptiness has turned in to rage and hate when he was made aware of what truly transpired ten thousand years ago and the doom that has befallen his people which resulted in guilt and loathing that clouded his vision up until this very moment when he realized that long ago he has found a family among the Cullens; a family that loves him unconditionally; a family he failed to appreciate in pursuit of revenge.

Uncontrollably, tears flowed from Naruto's eyes and streamed in to his face. "I'm sorry….you guys were always there for me but I was so blind and selfish….I'm so sorry." Filled with remorse, the shinobi apologized over and over again until he saw Esme came over him with vampiric speeds and subsequently wrapped him in a motherly hug.

"You're not going to die….we'll find a way." Esme said in a gentle and maternal voice, giving much relief but little hope.

The Cullens, along with Bella was about to comfort Naruto as well when they noticed that Alice just had a vision.

"What is it Alice?" Jasper inquired while he held here hand.

"He's back." Said Alice with a distant stare a few moments before the door opened, revealing Jake on the other side of the threshold.

"Jake" Bella greeted in a voice that reflected the pain and hardship of her pregnancy; nonetheless, for reasons she can't explain she was beyond happy to see the shape-shifter like it was some sort of weird pregnancy quirk or craving; even the baby seemed to feel the same judging by the way it responds and calms down whenever Jake is around.

"Where's Leah." Naruto inquired, perplexed and more unnerved than ever.

Edward, who already knew what transpired by reading Jake's mind, was silent and just solemnly folded his arms.

"Well…it's complicated. Leah will follow soon." Jake replied. There is a certain tremble in his voice that made everyone suspect something's amiss. _"I hope."_ He then thought, sighing.

"How did it go?" Carlisle made a follow up question.

"He can't help us…." Jake said, he thought that it would be best to break the bad news as gently and as euphemistically as possible but was cutoff.

"Stop sugarcoating it Jake! He explicitly said that he won't help us." Leah snarled behind him.

"Leah what happened?" Jake inquired, seeing Leah dripping wet as if she swam her way back to Forks.

"That little monster dropped me in the middle of Lake Crescent, that's what." Leah fumingly retorted.

" _Judging from what happened earlier I say it actually helped cool your temper."_ Jake thought to himself, but dared to say it out loud.

"It's ok you guys. I'm just glad you made it back safely. Naruto said in an amicable tone, smiling softly even though assaulted by the infinite fiery pangs of Errealth's curse that was far beyond the pain threshold of any ordinary human.

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Later that night Jake decided to patrol the perimeter. It was a cold night; the gentle breeze of impending autumn blew softly on his face as he stood guard outside of the Cullen's abode. His sharp eyes vigilantly scanning the woods for any signs of other Quileute shape-shifters; former friends and comrades who now desire to kill the thing inside of Bella's womb at all cost.

Suddenly, he felt a presence. "Who's there!" He snarled warily and prepared to transform in to his wolf form.

"It's just me." Naruto said amicably, emerging from a nearby shrub.

"You got me worried for a minute there." Jake sighed, speaking in an airy voice.

"Sorry about that." Naruto chuckled, scratching his head guiltily.

"How are you feeling now?" Jake inquired.

"Meh, crappy I suppose." Naruto shrugged.

Jake snickered in amusement. "You have a weird sense of humor man." He then told the blond.

"Well, what can I say, it's a gift." Naruto once again comically shrugged. "But kidding aside…." He then continued in a somewhat more serious tone.

"Dude, please…." Jake said, cutting the blonde off, knowing where the conversation is about to head. "I think Leah's the one you should ask about this."

"She's an amazing woman really." Naruto said looking at the cold and crowding stars with a smile on his face. "But it's funny how she always divert from the topic whenever I ask what you guys learned about my no less curious than distasteful predicament from that spoiled A-hole. Nevertheless, she never get tired of trying to cheer me up afterwards." He then continued shifting his gaze to Jake.

"Well that's Leah for you." Jake replied, smiling uncomfortably as Naruto looked at him with azure eyes that was pleading him, and indeed slowly persuading him to tell in full detail what transpired during their meeting with Alex.

"Jake…I need to know what happened." Naruto said so compellingly. Though in truth, the shinobi utilized a little genjutsu as he spoke, purveying the needed 'encouragement' for the shape-shifter to tell him what he wanted to know. Ordinarily he would just read the latter's mind but due to his unfortunate condition he wasn't able to effectively utilize more chakra intensive abilities such as telepathy and thus he has to employ subtler means of acquiring information.

"Ok...Ok…though if she asks, you didn't hear it from me." Jake finally relented to the blonde's request. "Alex said that a curse of some space-god is eating you from the inside out, in time…" He then continued in a calm and solemn voice but couldn't bear to finish his sentence for it was too horrible say.

"Well that sucks." Naruto said, having already deduced what Jake was trying but failed to imply. "Ah well…you know what they say. If you got to go, yah got to go." He then continued casually with his hands clasped behind his head.

"Not exactly the reaction I'm expecting." Jake said with a slightly tilted head of bewilderment as he peered at Naruto, puzzled by the shibobi's blasé reaction to the grim news. "Seriously? Is there something amusing about you going to die?" He then inquired, ever so perplexed.

To this Naruto chuckled lightly then sat beside Jake. "I suppose the problem with us immortals is we've lived too long, seen too much. After existing for a little more than ten thousand years…death doesn't really bother me anymore, in fact I welcome it. My only regret is that I have to leave Leah once more and won't be there personally to see my son or daughter born and grow up." He said sagaciously in a gentle voice to the shape-shifter.

"That's deep man" Jake replied, amazed of Naruto's wisdom and courage in the face of a looming inexorable doom. "However…there's one more thing." He then continued in a much portentous tone.

"Hmmm?" Naruto hummed inquisitively then peered at Jake.

"If you die while under the curse….your soul will be destroyed as well." Jake muttered in a somber whisper.

"I see...I appreciate the honesty man." Naruto said calmly with a gentle smile, unnerved by the sheer direness of his horrific predicament but his warrior's spirit refused to yield itself to despair.

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(Two Days Later)

"Jake their coming." Seth said as he and his sister caught up with Jake who was standing beneath the darkening shadows cast off by the colossal trees of the ancient forest.

"I know." Jake said, turning his gaze upon them then turning it back to the surrounding woods abruptly as he heard the sound of multiple footsteps coming in closer and closer, stalking them like a wolf would its prey.

"We should phase Jacob. We can't protect ourselves like this." Leah admonished.

"They'll see it as a threat." Jake replied before facing the woods where he heard a dried twig suddenly creak as if a massive paw has broken it. "I want to talk. It would be easier if I can hear you too." He then continued.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps could once again be heard but this time they were that of humans's as opposed to the beastly ruckus they've heard earlier. From a low stony crag then emerged Paul and Jarod, the former spitting on the ground out of revulsion.

"This isn't your territory anymore." Paul said arrogantly. "How's your new family working out?" He then continued in a mocking tone.

"Are you done?" Jake replied trying to be as calm as possible.

"You coming home Jake?" Quil questioned as he and Embry also made an appearance.

Jake shook his head, "Not until I finish this." He then replied.

"What do you mean?" Paul demanded, slightly confused.

"I want Sam to take back Leah and Seth." Jake clarified, looking straight at Paul.

"What?" Leah exclaimed in both indignation and disbelief. _"You can't be serious Jake!"_ She then thought fumingly.

"No way!" Seth said in protest.

"Quiet!" Jake hissed in harshly to Leah and Seth then returned his attention to his former pack members. "I want them safe. And I want this over. I need Sam to wait until Bella's been separated from the problem."

"You mean till she's dead." Paul paraphrased in his direct and much less euphemistic vocabulary that made Jake growl under his breath.

"Ease up, Paul," Embry reproved, earning himself a disagreeing glare from Paul.

"Then what?" Paul inquired haughtily.

"Tell Sam that when the moment comes, I'll be the one to destroy it." Jake professed in a serious and mirthless voice.

"Jake!" Seth yelled but his outcry was all but ignored.

"I'm the only one who can. They trust me." Jake continued that made Paul grin rather sadistically.

Suddenly, wolves howling filled the air, with it a telepathic message from the other shape shifters of the pack.

"You played us?" Paul snarled wanting to rend Jake limb from limb but the urgency of the howling has compelled him to set aside his anger and rejoin the pack.

The four of them then started to head back into the forest, with Embry the last one to disappear as he looked at Jake with a certain disappointment and sadness in his eyes, can't believe that his friend is now really his enemy.

It made Jake feel bad and a certain disquietude has racked his brain that he just stood there, frozen for a few minutes, without saying a word.

"Jake let's go." Leah said in a comforting voice but suddenly her expression, along with that of Seth and Jacob, became hard as they sensed that they weren't alone.

"Nice one…bravo!" Exclaimed an amused voice that sounded akin to that of a snickering teen boy.

Cautiously and with forbidding expression on their faces Jake, Leah and Seth lifted their heads then directed their vision up the trees, where the voice seemed to originate. To their surprise and detestation however, when they saw that it was a vampire sitting on the high bough of a great tree, and was seemingly watching them with great delight.

Instantly, Leah and Seth phased in their wolf forms and snarled fiercely at the mysterious stranger while Jake glared at it, never letting his guard down.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Jake hissed as he eyed him quite darkly.

"Hello. My name is Armand." The vampire introduced himself then dropped on the ground with such grace, pageantry and stealth that not even the tiniest sound or vibration was heard and felt from the landing even with the acute senses of the shape-shifters. "Don't worry I'm just here to observe and not cause any trouble." He then said, smiling gently at his wary audience.

"Don't trust him. His one of Alex's minions." Leah snarled, sending at telepathic message to Jake.

"I mean you no harm." Armand interjected telepathically, to the shape-shifters surprise and consternation.

"What are you?" What do you want?" Jake inquired in a foreboding hiss. "Leah wait!" He then exclaimed, seeing Leah charge upon the vampire.

"Die!" Leah roared; disregarding Jake's minatory cry she rushed wildly at Armand then pounced at him with an open intention to kill. To her bewilderment however, when the vampire suddenly vanished without a trace in a snaky darting that her eyes couldn't follow. "Show yourself!" She demanded in an angry stentorian voice as her eyes became white and featureless while the veins around it bulged.

"Up here." Armand said playfully as he hovered high in the air, far beyond Leahs's reach.

"Come down here you coward!" Leah roared.

"Leah stop it!" Jake exclaimed angrily in his alpha voice, muzzling Leah who could only whimper in protest. He then turned his attention back to Armand in hopes of relaying a message to the latter's master but found out that the vampire was gone. "Ah great" He then muttered, massaging the bridge of his nose in frustration.

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(Cullen's House)

"Next time just let me do all the talking." Jake admonished to Leah in a sere but calm voice.

"Sorry" Leah replied guiltily.

"Yeah. You're kinda too volatile Leah." Seth unctuously supplemented.

"Ok I get it!" Leah exclaimed, eyeing her brother.

"Just saying." Seth shrugged.

"Will you two stop it!" Jake chided with folded arms, exasperated with the bickering siblings.

"Sorry" Leah and Seth in a somewhat weird synchronicity.

"Anyways….you two keep your eyes peeled. I have a feeling that Sam's not very happy right now." Jake said in a more serious voice as he saw Carlisle, Esme and Emmett just emerge from the forest. "I take it the hunt didn't go so well." He then inquired solemnly to the vampires.

"I'm afraid not." Carlisle replied in a calm but solemn voice.

"The wolves just came upon us. We weren't able to hunt." Emmett supplemented in the same manner.

"I bet you, Leah and Seth are famished. I'll get you something from the kitchen." Esme said in a more positive tone, opting to change the conversation.

"Thanks" Jake replied as he and the Cullen's entered the house.

"Back so soon mutt." Rosalie said to Jacob snobbishly that earned her a sneer from the latter and a disapproving look from Esme.

"Rosalie why don't you get Jacob something from the kitchen." Esme said to Rosalie, trying to diffuse the situation between the two.

"Thanks but no thanks. I'd rather not eat something that blonde just spit at." Jake sneered, lashing back at Rosalie.

"She'll never embarrass me with such a lack of hospitality."Esme replied as they walked towards the living room where Bella, Edward and Alice were.

"Of course." Rosalie said, begrudgingly forced to comply. Though, at the back of her head she was deviously planning hand Jake his food on a doggie bowl.

"Jacob it's so good you're here now." Alice giggled cheerily.

"something I miss?" Jake inquired in bewilderment.

"Go ahead. Tell him." Alice said to Bella with an over-enthusiastic voice.

"What now?" Jake queried, even more confused.

"Rose is trying to talk Bella out off her baby names." Edward answered with a bit of amused smile on his face.

"She hates them." Bella supplemented.

"Here you go. Enjoy mongrel." Rose walked in, haughtily placing a doggie bowl on the floor containing Jake's food, as if the latter's a dog.

"Well, then I'm on your side no matter what you picked." Jake replied to Bella which was more of cunning snide to Rosalie.

"They're not that bad." Bella pouted, a bit defensively. "If it's a boy, EJ. Edward Jacob." She then continued that made both Edward and Jacob smile.

"Okay fine. That one's not awful." Rosalie admitted. "Why don't you tell him the girl's name." She then insisted in a peculiar tone, as if expecting something very funny or weird to immediately follow the announcement.

"I was playing around with our moms' names. Renée and Esme…and I was thinking, Renesmee." Bella said. Opting for a unique name but not one that is too out of the ordinary to the point of weird such as Bentlee, Mafalda or Voldemort.

Upon hearing this, the expression on Jake's face was that of singular discomfort, finding the name quite bizarre that he wanted to burst out of laughter but trying to maintain a straight and composed face as to not offend Bella. "Renesmee" He inquired in an unintentional squeaky voice, the effect of inordinately holding down a chuckle down his throat. It made Edward snicker.

"Too weird?" Bella inquired in a hopeful voice. Hoping that Jake would say no.

" _Ah, yeah!"_ Jake thought but politely declined to comment; though the weird constipated expression on his face made his opinion loud and clear.

"No, it's not weird." Edward said supportively. "It's beautiful. And it's unique which certainly fits the situation. I like Renesmee." He then continued that made Bella beam.

" _I suppose Renesmee is fine"_ Jake once again thought, smiling to himself.

"He likes it." Bella said to Rosalie that made the latter roll her eyes.

Out of sudden, the light flickered portentously, closely followed by a terrible peal of thunder and violent rumbling that for a second seemingly shook everyone's minds.

Edward held his terrified wife in his arms as the floor trembled beneath their feet, the walls shook and wavered, and the rumbling noise, in long, shuddering undulations, grew louder and more ominous. The solid floor appeared to rise and flow with a continuous sickening motion; and then, as they turned to brace themselves, it seemed that the universe came down upon them in a roaring deluge of night and ruin.

"What's happening?" Bella inquired in an unnerved and terrified voice, hugging Edward ever so tightly as the glass wall of the house, which overlooked the Calawah River, shattered in to a million fragments that gleamed with malignant glints as they were intercepted by the spectral silver rays of the pale and hollow moon that grew gray with the stillness of night.

Edward tried to comfort and calm Bella down but was horribly cutoff as he heard in the dark a loathsome laughing, mixed with such a scream as no man else ever heard save in the hell of unrelatable nightmares; a scream wherein reverberated the horror and anguish of a haunted lifetime packed into one atrocious moment.

"Naruto" The Cullens concurrently muttered with breathy voices as they fearfully gazed upon the direction of the shinobi's room.

Soon, Leah and Seth came frantically scampering inside the house and straight in to the living room with trembling limbs. Both of them were shivering and frightened out of their wits; and the expression on their faces were that of a person whose nerves are still taut from witnessing unmentionable horrors.

"What's wrong?" Jake questioned in a deathly serious tone.

Breathing heavily, Seth couldn't utter a word, but could only fearfully point his index finger in to the direction of a large window adjacent to the living room.

Cautiously, Jake walked towards the said window and slowly lifted the curtain. "What the hell…" He stutteringly muttered in a low, barely audible voice as he stared in dread.

"What is it? What's happening?" Edward inquired, living Bella for a moment to Rosalie and Alice's care, but as soon as he saw what's outside he became suddenly taciturn himself and the expression on his face instantly merged to that of Jake's aghast; as if both of their very sanity were cruelly sucked out of their brains.

The light of the moon has now strangely failed, and an eerie mournful mist surrounded the Cullen's abode in every direction like a sentient, slow encroaching wall of turbulent eerie vapors from the seven hells that blazed with a wan unearthly glow; and from the mist they beheld in phantasmagoric, gut wrenching horror the ghastly dancing silhouettes of macabre monsters and unnamable abominations, leaping and howling in sadistic cacodaemoniacal mirth.

Then out of sudden, they felt a spectral change in the atmosphere, as if the laws of earth were bowing to greater laws of the infinite abyss. The air congealed and curdled from an unseen but palpable fear, and the unearthly light issuing from the demonic fog flickered even more violently as the dancing shadows within its folds leapt and howled in an even more chaotic cadence as if in a blasphemous rite of satanic incursion.

But before any of them could utter a word or shriek in fear, they once again heard Naruto cry out in great pain and trepidation, as with the throes of a second dissolution; as if the very essence of distilled fear and terror has fastened itself upon the inmost soul of the shinobi.

Unthinking, unhesitating, Leah quickly streaked to Naruto's room that has somehow stirred the others to crush their fears and follow hence.

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Not without terror, Leah, closely shadowed by the Cullen's, rushed as quickly as their feet could carry them to Naruto. However, they suddenly halted as they reached the threshold of the shinobi's room.

As through the chinks and apertures of the said room issued a cold and eldritch yet strangely dazzling illumination, pale and frigid as if the fire of ice, and so mesmerizing that their senses were instantaneously dimmed whilst an existential fear gripped their very souls.

The ghostly light made them question the very foundations of their life; whether it has any meaning, purpose or value; and the urge to end their hollow existence became stronger and stronger for every passing second.

" _Your existence is irrelevant. Give your life to me."_ A thin hypnotic and commanding voice seemingly issued telepathically behind the door with a drear echo as the spectral beams flared up for an instant with a more astounding iridescence. The thundering tone cast an echo in to infinity and the words seemingly burned in to their souls; slowly making them believe that they don't exist at all, that they are just a mere empty thought; a vagrant thought, a useless thought, a homeless thought, wandering forlorn among the empty eternities.

"No….Naruto" Leah muttered with impotent hopelessness in a low, barely audible voice, and with half-lowered eyelids on her eyes that were transfixed and had a blank, trance-like, distant stare in them, as if she was under the influence of a powerful hallucinogenic alkaloid. Suddenly, the image of Naruto flashed unceasingly inside her head like a lucid dream.

The thought of her mate, sharper than the thrust of a dagger, has brought her back to agonizing consciousness. Then with the force of near-superhuman strength, she kicked the door in front of her, shattering it in to several pieces. Strangely, the tumultuous distraction of breaking wood has seemingly brought back the Cullens's volition.

"What was tha…" Carlisle was about to comment but his voice flattened in to silence wrought of utter awe as he saw what's on the other side of Naruto's door.

The now unconscious shinobi was lying supine on the floor while above him was something out of a strange nightmare. To describe it in words was difficult for it's too alien and defies mortal logic. It wasn't a creature or a thing from the mundane sphere but seemingly hailed from a much higher plane of ethereal and supernal existence, beyond even the lore and power of Earth's gods.

Vaguely, it looked like a starry, dark crystalline shard fluctuating above Naruto's midriff, which, on rhythmic intervals, seemingly shifts its form in to a rapidly expanding and contracting energy mass that contained an endless plethora of dimensions and universes.

Surrounding the shard was an areole of fiery blue-white aura that seemed to distort the very fabric of reality and decussate the boundaries between the material, spiritual, conceptual and metaphysical planes while numerous flickering orbs of energy akin to that of miniature stars continuously form, pulse and nova as they orbit it like electrons on a nucleus that coruscated with eldritch glints which in turn produced the unearthly illumination that enthralled their minds earlier.

Suddenly the surroundings turned deathly frigid then out of nothingness there came a burst of evil laughter, a hysterical cackling born of utter malevolence. It rose to the grinning quintessence of all horror, without a mouth to give it birth.

Hearing this, the onlookers' faces became a pale white mask of newly reawakened fear. Though this was just the beginning for what happened next is even more unspeakably grisly, and it all ensued with startling swiftness.

Naruto's eyes snapped open and he began to scream and claw wildly at the empty air. In that strange pallid light they saw the shinobi contort in to a grimace of insane suffering.

A moment later, his body rose unsupported from the floor and began to bend outward to a backbreaking degree. They then heard the sickening grind of breaking bones as his form now hung in mid-air, his azure eyes glazed and his hands clutched convulsively as if at something unseen.

Once again there came the sound of maniacal tittering, but this time everyone could have sworn that it came from the shard.

Unable to bear the horrific sight any longer, Leah was about to come to Naruto's aid. However, suddenly the stars seemingly rocked in red anguish, and the cold air gibbered at her ears as she saw the shard has now morphed in to a fiery globe akin to that of an elfin star, while the energy wreathing it became flushed with scintillating rays of dazzling effulgence.

From it, there issued tendril-like ethereal filaments, pearly, shuddering into strange colors that appeared to fasten themselves, and indeed immaterially pass through the floor, walls and roof of the room, like the weaving of a spider. Thickly and more thickly they multiplied, forming a barrier between Leah and Naruto.

Now the web had filled the entire room. It ran and glistened with a hundred changing hues, it dripped with glories drawn from the spectrum of dissolution. It bloomed with ghostly blossoms, and foliage that grew and faded as if by some malign divinity.

When Leah tried to touch one of these webs, a sharp numbing pain smote right through her skin. Her hand became momentarily blackened, and if she wasn't able to quickly desist it would've rotted on its wrist and fallen away like the sloughing of a leper.

Naruto once again shrieked in pain. His screams blended with that gleeful, atrocious laughter from the shard while his body dangled in space, subsequently bending backwards once again as his blood burst out from the pores of his skin like crimson mist. That cloud of blood however never touched the floor for it stopped in mid-air as the laughing ceased and a loathsome sucking noise took its place.

In a new accelerated horror, Leah and the Cullen's realized that the blonde's blood was being drained to feed the shard. With blank amazement and dread, they spectated with eyes riveted on the horrific scene, powerless to act, and can only hope that Naruto will survive.

Moment after moment of mind shattering horror they were forced to watch the blonde's torment. Then suddenly the wrathful shard, a thing of evil beauty, alive and aware in some holocryptic fashion, has now seemed to have sated its thirst and fury for the time being; leisurely descending back in to Naruto's chest and bonded with him like a parasite with beyond god-like energies that slowly consumes its host.

Subsequently, the web like barrier dissipated and Naruto fell to the ground, senseless. Carlisle and Leah quickly rushed to him and held him up.

"Naruto…..please don't die!" Leah said in a distraught and fearful voice.

"He's alive….but barely." Carlisle reassured the Quileute in a low but hopeful tone as he realized that despite of Naruto's grievous injuries he was starting to recuperate. "It's a good thing he's Naruto." He then further commented on the shinobi's incredible healing factor as with his vampiric senses he was able to see the latter's tissues regenerating on a cellular level and hear his broken bones snapping back in place and mending itself.

"That thing earlier. It intentionally stopped when Naruto is about to die….as if it wants to prolong his suffering." Edward speculated. He, Bella and Seth came to the scene after sensing that the danger has passed.

The ominous statement has made everyone put on a face of deep and serious contemplation, especially Jake and Leah who were told first hand of what will happen if Naruto would expire while the curse of Errealth remains unlifted.

Without warning, a ghostly diaphanous tendril bolted out of Naruto's chest. It lashed out violently which caught Carlisle and Esme in its fold, seemingly vaporizing them into oblivion.

"No!" Edward cried out in anguish.

In truth, this unimaginable horror is the manifestation of Errealth's vengeance, a loathly spawn of his wrath and hatred before the outer-god succumbed to his doom. This monstrosity, too awful to permit of even a brief contemplation and with intentions that is too plainly hostile has unswervingly darted with an unbelievable speed and celerity of motion to Bella's womb with feticidal inclinations.

"Aghhhhh!" Bella let out a blood curdling shriek in both horror and unimaginable torment; as inside her womb, the inimical ethereal monstFrosity coiled itself around her baby like a serpent then began to constrict harshly, malevolently aiming to rend the unborn child limb from limb.

"Bella!" Exclaimed both Edward and Jacob as they, along with the other vampires and shape-shifters desperately tried to liberate her from the vile entity but to no avail for it will never relinquish her that easy, and there physical attacks proved naught against its ascended nature; then with a terrible crunching sound Bella's spine broke.

Slowly, Naruto opened his eyes. Well aware of the dire predicament he lifted his aching and heavy arms, and folded his hands in to a tiger seal. " **Five Elements Spiral Seal** " He muttered in a low quavering voice; then with the last of his strength cast the **fuinjutsu** , eliciting a spiral crest surrounded by glyphs to manifest on his chest.

This seal is somewhat similar in appearance to the **Eight Trigrams Seal** on his belly but much more complicated, sporting a series of Torii around the spiral crest that served to deadbolt and fortify the seal itself.

Then, from the fingers of his right hand blazed blue flickering flames of chakra, together with serpentine cursed seals that manifested on his arm. "We'll die together then." Naruto said with a smile of righteous retribution on his face as he slammed his hand on to the seal in his chest then twisted it counter-clockwise, causing the spiral seal to also turn in to the same direction like a combination lock.

Naruto knew that the measure was insufficient to permanently contain the shard so he opted to use the **fuinjutsu** in order to imprison it inside his body and be its Jinchūriki until the time of his close impending death, hoping that it would expire with him. This, he made Edward aware through the latter's telepathy.

Abruptly, the ethereal tendril melted upon the air like smoke as the Toriis began to shift its position and interlocked on the spiral crest. Seeing this, Naruto was content. "Thank you for making my life worth living." He calmly said what sounds like his final parting words as a courageous smile cracked on his face before his tortured lips relaxed and his eyes closed, slipping in to a state of death-like catalepsy.

Unfortunately however, the problem is far from over as the assault on Bella earlier has engendered her to go on labor.

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"Rosalie pass the morphine." Edward said distraughtly without taking his eyes off Bella.

"Carlisle said the placenta must've detached." Alice said while on the phone. Fortunately, Carlisle and Esme were just teleported away, though it would take a bit of time even with vampiric agility for them to reach home. "He's coming as fast as he can." She then continued.

"We'll have to do it." Rosalie said worriedly, with scalpel in hand.

"Let the morphine spread." Edward protested, holding back Rosalie as the latter was about to cut Bella's stomach.

"There is no time. He's dying!" Rosalie retorted, fearing for the baby's safety.

"Get him out, now!" Bella screamed in pain.

Upon hearing this Rosalie didn't hesitate and made a quick incision on her stomach.

"Bella, look at me." Jake said as Bella let out a shrill scream of agony from the immense pain she was made to endure.

At that point Bella seemingly shifted back and forth from consciousness to unconsciousness. She saw Rosalie slitting her belly with a scalpel then suddenly became distracted with the blood flowing from her freshly opened wound as the latter's strong vampire instincts kicked in, prompting Jake to tackle her and Alice to restrain and drag her down out of the room.

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(Night Islands)

The Night Islands, a personal creation of the vampire Armand where everyone is welcome to its doors, mortal and immortal alike, to bask in its splendor and the many distraction it offers. Located off the coast of Florida, the picturesque high-end island resort is complete with its own copter pad and marina, secret illegal gambling casinos, mirror-lined gymnasiums and overheated swimming pools, crystal fountains, silver escalators, emporium of dazzling consumables, bars, taverns, lounges and theaters.

It was a rather warm and pleasant for an autumn night around the island, even by the standards of sub-tropical Florida. The soft illumination of the stars who boldly declared their brilliance upon the dark-blue night sky, along with the gentle rays of the peering moon were iridescently reflected on the undulating surface of the sea, giving off a curious light show akin to myriad of fireflies skimming on the water's surface, coruscating their light on a cruising luxury yacht.

"Happy birthday" Lestat greeted, smiling softly at Alex.

"Thanks" Alex smiled back. "What's the matter?" He then inquired as he saw that the smile on Lestat's face was suddenly replaced by a somber expression.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Lestat inquired solemnly, gripping the steel railings of the yacht rather tightly as he and Alex stood on its terrasse located on the vessel's upper deck.

"Does it matter?" Alex said in a voice of gloomy sarcasm as he gazed on a dark oval shaped crystal that was black as the abyss and is actually the physical manifestation of the gateway through the shadowy realm were the evil god's were banished long ago. "You know I have no choice." He then continued, looking at Lestat with somber blue eyes that glowed faintly as they reflected some of the starlight that placidly illuminated the night.

"You could choose not to be a part of this….You mustn't open the gate. There is a reason they were imprisoned by Errealth." Lestat implored the young man's better senses.

"It's all the same old friend. The barrier that separates our sphere from their realm has become too corroded…..sadly, I can't do anything much about it. Only Errealth has the power to mend the barrier but he's dead now." Alex explained in a voice interlaced by both sadness and foreboding. "Don't you understand? The end is inevitable. In time The Others will return to Earth and believe me when I tell you that it'll be far preferable to be on their side rather than on their way."

"How long do you think we have before the barrier completely fails?" Lestat queried in a soft voice that bewildered the young man for the question wasn't only out of the coquettish vampire's character but the equanimity on his face as he inquired has mystified him as well.

"I reckon more or less about two hundred years." Alex hummed contemplatively. "Even if I sacrifice all of my power I could only buy us a bit longer than that." He then continued but was taken aback seeing the calm and equable expression on Lestat's face.

"Two hundred years is enough." Lestat said in a gentle voice.

"I'm sorry…what?" Alex inquired with a confounded countenance. The query wasn't only a request for the latter to clarify what the statement meant but was also a subtle way of conveying his confusion over his friend's rather strange demeanor lately.

"We can live here in peace, in this island…you, me, Armand. Let's no longer get involved in the affairs of Naruto or be a pawn to scheming gods." Lestat said in a hopeful voice, trying to convince the young man.

"That would be nice." Alex muttered softly in contemplation then smiled back at Lestat. "Away from all the troubles of the world, looking at the white sand beach and the sapphire blue sea first thing in the morning, and fishing until the sun set…..I like that. Also, I think I'm gon'na get a pet cat. A big, fat, fluffy one." He then said in a gentle voice of a person who thinks aloud as the things he always dreamt of doing ever since he was just a child but was forbade by his cynical and imperious parents flashed in his head.

"A fat cat?" Lestat inquired amusedly. "What, you want a walking pillow or something?" He then quipped that made both of them chuckle lightheartedly.

Suddenly the two noticed another shadow fell along with there's. Directing their attention to the adumbration's owner, they saw it was Armand.

"What news from Forks?" Alex inquired somewhat apprehensively, seeing the grim expression on the vampire's face.

"Not too good. Errealth's shard is on a rampage." Armand said somberly. "And Bella….she's dying." He then continued.

To this Alex seemed coldly silent but the way he recoiled and blenched from hearing the grim news has made it quite clear to the vampires that the young man still deeply cared very much about Bella no matter how much he tried to suppress his affection for her or replace that love with the hate that Nyarlathotep seeded in his heart.

"Should we help them?" Armand said in a whisper like voice, his query was as much a suggestion as a question to the now pensively contemplating young man.

Looking deeply at his reflection on the dark crystal he held atop his palm the memories of Bella flashed before Alex's eyes. As if a phantasmagoric vision, he remembered so vividly that day when he first met her in biology class, then that day in La Push, along with her curiosity with vampires which he found cute. Like the unfailing luster of a burning sun he ruminated and mentally relived every fond memory he had back when they were still friends.

In some strange way, the tiny glimmer of nostalgic sentiment made Alex smile ever so slightly before the full gravity of reality quelled that spark and the bad reminiscences started to flash inside his head; he recalled how she suddenly started avoiding him without a word or explanation, he remembered the bone shearing loneliness and pain of how Bella looked at him in a malefic view, with so much contempt and disgust like he was a filthy animal as she renounced their friendship the day before her wedding, along with the belittling indignity of elegiacally watching her tie the knot with Edward as an invisible uninvited outcast.

" _I offered her the gift of my love…and she only broke my heart in return. She has chosen her own fate. Give me one good reason why the hell should I help her?"_ Alex smirked, angered and despairing as he thought of how unfairly he has been treated, clutching the dark crystal until his hand bled as the sharp edges of the adamantine artifact sank on his flesh from gripping it too tightly with his constricting fingers.

"Whatever your decision is, we'll always be by your side." Lestat said supportively that brought the young man out of his pensive brooding and back to his senses.

To the vampires surprise when Alex sighed heavily as if in submission to the love he couldn't deny or escape, subsequently flinging the dark crystal in to the sea with great force that it was propelled for miles in a ballistic trajectory before hitting the water with a splash and sinking like a heavy ingot of lead.

"Let's go to Forks….for one last time." Alex beamed boyishly with the same innocent smile he had back when his heart wasn't yet corrupted by darkness and hate. "You guys go ahead. I have something important to do first. I'll follow soon." He then said to Lestat and Armand which they gladly concurred.

Then, utilizing both their cloud gifts, the couple of vampires took off from the yacht and zoomed with jet like speed as they traversed the interlaying distance of their destination.

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(Cullen' House)

"Save her, you got to change her!" Jake said in frantic.

"I can't, not while he's still in her." Edward replied. "I've got to get him out first." He then continued

"Stay focused." Jacob said in a serious voice, pushing Bella to keep herself alive. "Keep your heart beating."

"He's suffocating!" Bella screamed in maternal concern, even though she herself was in great pain.

Jake looked away as Edward tore the placenta with his teeth then pulled out the baby, cutting its umbilical cord in the same manner.

"It's Renesmee" Edward smiled gently as he showed Bella their daughter.

"She's beautiful." Bella sighed, smiling as Edward then handed Reneesme to her. She held her close to her heart; seemingly all her hardships have melted away.

Edward suddenly cringed when Renesmee bit her mother, prompting Edward to take her away.

Soon, the pain became too much for Bella to bear. She started to lose consciousness and everything went dark as the immense stress and trauma to her body caused it to inevitably shut down. Soon, she stopped breathing. She just lay there motionless, on the brink of death.

"Bella?" Jake nervously muttered as he noticed Bella no longer breathing. "Bella, Bella!" He then exclaimed, growing more frantic by the second, shaking her shoulder then giving her CPR but there was no response on her part.

"Jake, take the baby." Edward said, attempting to revive Bella himself.

"Get that thing away from me!" Jake snarled as he glared angrily at what he perceived as the cause of Bella's predicament.

"Edward, I'll take her." Rosalie said, walking back in to the room, overcoming her vampiric bloodlust. "I promise I'm ok now." She then further reassured that convinced Edward to hand Renesmee to her.

From a drawer nearby, Edward took a large glass syringe containing a clear but wispy substance within.

"What's that?" Jake inquired in both curiosity and apprehension.

"It's my venom." Edward answered as he placed his hand on the center of Bella's chest, trying to find where her heart is; and when he did, he quickly administered the venom with an intercardiac injection.

Nothing happened, she remained motionless and unresponsive. At that point Edward decided to give her another CPR and bit her in different parts of her body so that the venom would spread more rapidly. But to no avail for Bella was dead.

"I won't kill you. That'd be too easy. You deserve to live with this." Jake said with tears in his eyes, in a voice interlaced with both extreme sadness and loathing.

Edward on the other hand just continued performing the CPR and paid no attention to the shape-shifter, uncaring if the latter kills him or not at that very moment as he desperately tried to revive his wife. "You're not dead….come on…come on!"

Unable to take the piteous sight any longer Jake stormed out of the room then out of the house, wanting to punch a tree until his hands bleed just to distract him a little from the pain of losing the woman he loved. In the end he dropped in to the ground and cried, wishing he could've turned back time and prevent the disaster from happening.

"She didn't make it." Seth said solemnly with quivering lips as he and Leah saw Jake's anguish.

However, as they grieved, a wolf from Sam's pack was stealthily lurking behind the shadows and overheard the dreadful news.

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(Jake's House)

"He's still my son!" Billy protested as Sam and his pack prepared themselves for battle.

"I'm sorry Billy. I just thought you should know." Sam said solemnly. Suddenly, Paul came out of the woods and whispered something to him. "Bella's dead…it killed her." He then averred to everyone in a broken voice that reflected his sadness but he quickly regained his composure being reinforced by his great desire to protect the tribe.

To this, Sue, who was standing behind Billy, was shocked and tears began to well up her eyes. While the latter was horrified and could no longer utter a word, for deep inside him he knew that exterminating the monster that murdered Bella was the right thing to do. Though, he cannot help but feel worried for his son's safety and could only pray that he's gon'na be alright when the dust settles.

"Let's go!" Sam then commanded in a harsh stentorian voice, prompting the other shape-shifters to follow.

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Meanwhile, back at the Cullens House; Jake's grief has turned itself in to anger and utter loathing. He knew what he must do. He must kill Renesmee not only to avenge Bella's death but also to avoid a bloody war between the Cullen's and the pack.

Seeing this, Seth attempted to talk Jake out of what he's about to do but Leah clutched him in the arm. Glancing to his shoulder, he saw his sister with a solemnly grim expression on her face as if she was telling him that they don't have any choice.

Out of sudden they heard the streaking sound of paws in the forest, and it would seem that the Cullen's caught it as well, as they are now outside their house, and preparing to defend themselves. They knew that Sam and his pack will be coming for them soon with terrible lycanthropic swiftness, and that a bloody skirmish would soon erupt as they now shifted in to their wolf forms.

Very soon, the wolves revealed themselves, emerging from the shadows and darkening boles of forest trees like phantoms. There were more than eleven of them, snarling and with open intention to kill as they assembled in to a vicious attack formation with Sam on the lead.

Sam, who was physically the largest of them and the most intimidating, bared his dagger like canines which seemingly glowed like deadly moon-washed marble as they stood out against his dark coat and the black shadowy backdrop.

"We're outnumbered." Jasper assessed without taking his eyes off the wolves.

"By a lot." Alice supplemented, stating the obvious.

"I won't let them hurt my family." Edward said without a hint of trepidation in his voice as the wolves snarled menacingly and crouched low, priming to lunge at them at any given moment.

Then, with inhuman rapidity it all happened. The wolves lunged for the kill and the Cullen's also charged at them. Edward took Sam directly while Emett, Jasper and Alice took care of the wolves on both flanks.

More agile than the others, Alice was able to evade her opponent's unrelenting assault and caught a wolf off guard. However, the said wolf was able to instantly flip itself and plunge back with a maw full of razor sharp teeth, barely missing the vampire as the latter acrobatically somersaulted.

However, another wolf leaped on a transecting trajectory and caught her in mid-air. Its jaws took her on the torso then slammed her face on to the ground.

"Ahhh!" Alice let out an involuntary cry of pain as the wolf's canines gritted and dug on to his flesh. She saw that Edward was borne to the ground and Sam was snarling above him as he pinned the vampire.

Seeing an opportunity open as the wolf lightly relinquished its grip on her stomach, Alice brought her feet up to meet its torso and with a powerful kick, propelled it off of her, throwing the shape-shifter high in to the air, of which it struck the thick trunk of a nearby tree and landed with a yelp.

Briskly, she then jumped back to her feet and gracefully dodged other attacks and rushed to aid Edward who was about to be killed. To her relief when Carlisle and Esme finally arrived, with the latter tackling Sam and the former giving a powerful punch to an attacking wolf, knocking it back to the forest.

At that point Leah also joined the fray and lunged at Sam as the latter was preparing to mount another assault, while Seth seemed hesitant to attack his former friends and pack brothers. Unfortunately however, despite the reinforcements they were still outmatched.

Alice saw her mate Jasper, along with Carlisle, desperately trying to fend off their attackers; Emmett was also being assaulted by multiple belligerents and has to retreat to the safety of a nearby tree; she saw Leah now on the ground, being overpowered by Sam; while the other wolves surrounded Edward and Esme, pacing slowly and menacingly in a circle around them.

Then with all the rapidity of an impending nightmare, she saw a wolf launch itself and gaped upon her, revealing rows of razor sharp canine that could easily rip her head apart. There was no time to react, it was closing in so fast, its jaws widening with the same extreme ferocity that accompanied all its other movements.

Alice closed her eyes and prepared to meet her maker. However she remained alive, instead of the grisly sound of her bones being crushed and tissues being torn she heard in its lieu a crashing sound followed by the wolf whimpering like a fierce animal between rage and fear. Slowly, she lifted her eyelids then saw someone chillingly familiar, it was Lestat.

"Mademoiselle" Lestat said with a coquettish smile on his face as he offered his hand to help Alice out of the ground. "We heard you require assistance."

To this Alice was petrified; she didn't know how to react at the charming vampire in front of her. While it's true that he saved her life, she also saw how brutally ruthless the latter was when he and his fellows quickly dispatched James, Victoria and Laurent.

"Get away from her!" Jasper exclaimed as he quickly streaked between them and glared at Lestat. However, this distracted him from the ongoing fight, and a wolf manage to sneak itself unnoticed behind him then lunged itself at the vampire.

The attack however never connected it was intercepted in mid-air by Armand who executed a fast and destructive dive then landed his feet on the wolf's spine. "Don't worry we're on the same team this time." He then said in an amicable air as he kicked another wolf, sending it flying to the forest, in a sharp trajectory.

"Be careful Armand. We're not supposed to kill them." Lestat reprimanded lightly, as he saw the wolf maimed.

"I know what I'm doing." Armand replied, sending another wolf flying in to the forest. He seemed to be enjoying the battle a little too much.

"It's not that we don't appreciate the assistance…." Carlisle said as he dodged an attack. "But why are you helping us?" He then inquired after giving an angry wolf a solid punch.

"Our master will explain it to you once he arrives." Lestat replied as he held a wolf by its neck with one hand. Suddenly the said wolf along with others of its pack was seemingly smitten by a somnolent spell of inescapable stupor that engendered them to instantly drop to the ground in a catatonic slumber. "Oh, it seems he's already here." He then remarked with a crooked smile cracking on his face, making the Cullen's, particularly Edward, understandably anxious.

At that point Jake came out of the house. There was something in the expression on his face that both the Cullens and the Clearwaters found to be rather 'different', though they couldn't point it out exactly; except for Edward who suddenly became a bit crossed at something as he eyed Jake quite darkly and seemingly about to charge him any second, but he didn't for some reason.

"Bring them back." Jake said in a calm voice, requesting Alex, who was now standing behind him, to reawaken Sam and his pack.

To this, Alex concurred with a nod. One by one the wolves then stirred from their magically induced torpor and rose on their paws slowly, feeling a slight vertigo from the residual effect of the spell.

"Jake you traitor!" Sam roared as he paced towards Jake, trying to insinuate a mortal combat between the two of them.

"Stop! It's over." Jake said, trying to reason with Sam. It was seemingly to no avail however, as the latter attacked him. "If you kill her, you kill me." He then continued but the alpha sent him spiraling into a chunk of bushes by the house, prompting him to shift in to his wolf form in mid-air then confront the latter as he landed on his paws.

Guttural snarls echoed throughout the trees and the forest as Jake and Sam telepathically communed while the other wolves, including Leah and Seth, peered with an air of ponderous unbelief.

"What's happening?" Emmett inquired, bewildered.

"Jacob's imprinted..." Edward said in a somewhat slightly bitter and resenting voice as they watched the wolves.

"On whom?" Emmett queried once more, this time for clarification. However, his eyes suddenly widened as he realized that it was Edward's daughter who Jake has imprinted on. "Oh hell no! You got to be kidding me." He then said quite loudly in a voice that was half disbelief and half amusement.

"I'm glad you're enjoying this." Edward muttered irately to his sibling.

"Sorry" Emmett replied in a sheepish voice. "Look, the wolves. They're retreating." He then pointed out, changing the topic.

"They can't hurt her. It's their most sacred law." Edward said, explaining to him that they could no longer touch Renesmee the moment Jake imprinted on her for when a shape-shifter's soul mate is killed, he will never forget or forgive whoever's responsible for her death. In the case of the killer being another pack member, whether purposefully or by accident, the inevitable result is a fight to the death. To avoid feuding bloodshed within the pack, the La Push shape-shifters established their most strictly followed law, by which no wolf may harm or kill a fellow wolf's imprinted one, with no exceptions.

Shifting back to his human form, Jake sighed. "Finally, it's over." He then said, knowing that at least they wouldn't have a problem with Sam and his pack anymore.

For a moment there was an atmosphere of equanimity; but a brief one it would seem for the said serenity was broken as Edward glared at Alex and the latter did the same.

"What are you doing here?" Edward hissed with clenched fists.

"I'm here to offer you a truce." Alex replied that shocked everyone. "I will help Naruto. In exchange I want to see Bella." He then said that gave Leah so much hope.

"She….she's dead." Edward replied in a low, crestfallen voice as his heart grew sick from knowing that the woman she loved was now claimed by the reaper.

For a long second, Alex was taciturn, bowing his head in grief. It made Leah anxious for she feared that the demigod would never agree to help Naruto without the much needed leverage of Bella in the equation.

"Please" Leah practically begged.

"Nonetheless I want to see her." Alex said in insistence as he lifted his head and looked at Edward.

To this, Edward eventually agreed reluctantly after some time of solemn reflection but was ever vigilant to the young man's odd condition.

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With benumbed and painful mental processes, and confused to the last degree Naruto slowly opened his eyes and realized that he was lying on a riven and tilted pavement, among gigantic blocks of fallen stone. Above him, the light of a torpid heaven came down among over-turned and jagged walls that no longer supported their colossal dome.

"Where am I? What is this place?" Naruto muttered to himself as he stood up on his feet and scanned the environment of what looked like the ruins of an ancient temple. Then walking towards the direction of the fane's threshold where great gates once stood, the shinobi saw in shock the horrific landscape outside the temple.

The most striking and immediate impression he experienced was the lack of color and light; no sun, moon, or stars adorned the vault of the inky black sky, and all things looked as if the color had leeched out, leaving nothing but black and white, which in the dimness were more like 'dark black' and 'light black'.

"Quite a sight huh?" Said a familiar voice that immediately caught Naruto's attention.

"That voice….." Naruto muttered in a breathy voice of wistfulness and happiness alike. Then turning to the center of the ruin he saw a light of an oil lamp, and sitting near it was a tall man seemingly writing a novel with his ink brush on a laid out piece of paper. "Pervy sage" He then said in a somber voice as he felt a whirlwind of emotions upon seeing his old master.

"Been a while Naruto!" Jiraiya greeted, smiling paternally at Naruto as he placed his ink brush down.

"Master Jiraiya!" Naruto exclaimed in ebullient keenness, as with tears welling up his eyes he dashed towards the Sannin to give him a hug but suddenly crashed on the latter's outstretched palm in a comedic manner. "What the hell you do that for!" Annoyed, Naruto protested in a comical chibi form.

"Too much sweetness kid. Dial it down a notch." Jiraiya said, chuckling at the shinobi as he helped the latter to stand up.

Suddenly the expression on Naruto's face became noticeably gloomy. "Am I dead?" He then inquired th Sannin.

"What do you think?" Jiraiya inquired a counter-question, smiling cheekily on his former student.

"If I'm talking to you….then I suppose I am." Naruto smirked. Though once again the expression on his face took a rather sad solemn countenance as the image of Leah flashed before his eyes along with the vision of what life would've been if he could stay with her and their child.

"Well, do you want to pass on now?"Jiraiya once again queried.

"Honestly, if there's any choice….I want to hang out a little longer to be with Leah and see our baby born and watch him or her grow." Naruto said in a hollow voice then sadly smiled knowing such a thing would be impossible.

"If you really want it. Then open your eyes Naruto." Jiraiya said sagaciously with a gentle smile on his face as a lurid nova of light suddenly burst out like an exploding star and engulfed everything in a blissful empyrean whiteness.

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Azure eyes opened, only to see the face of a dreaded enemy. Swiftly, Naruto sprang erect and from a seal in his right arm summoned a gleaming katana wrought of folded adamantine steel. "What the hell are you doing here?" He then glared darkly, pressing the razor sharp edge of his blade on to the young man's neck, dangerously close to his jugular.

"Saving you it would seem. Don't worry I'm not expecting a thank you." Alex retorted sarcastically in an impassive voice and with a straight face. "Nice big sword you have there, compensating for something?" He then continued with a rather snarky comment.

"Say what!" At that point Naruto's deathly serious demeanor subsided and was replaced by a rather comical outburst of annoyance. "Leah, tell this fairyboy how big it is!" He then exclaimed childishly that made everyone snigger a little, except Leah who was quite flustered by the shinobi's relatively uncouth statement, and Edward who was still devastated by Bella's passing.

"Naruto…" Flustered, Leah reprimanded in virtuous indignation.

"Or better yet get the ruler we're measuring again. But this time I'll decide where the base is." Naruto exclaimed in an irked voice, like a person who thinks aloud and without any sort of mental filter; it would seem that in his fixation he wasn't even aware of his surroundings or the chuckles he's eliciting from the increasingly amused people around him.

"Damn it Naruto! Shut up!" Leah thundered. Giving Naruto a swift piercing stare as her discomfiture of the blonde's antics promptly converted itself in to exasperation, and later on, with help from her raging pregnancy hormones, became a great desire to smack the blonde silly to shut him up.

Like a man asleep douched with ice-water Naruto snapped out of his comical ranting and saw Leah's angry glare directed at him. "Oh…hi there Leah." He then muttered in a squeaky, terror laced voice while diffidently waving at her girlfriend.

The gesture was to no avail however, as she seemed to be greatly riled. With a fear like the slow creeping of hemlock, Naruto gulped seeing Leah pace towards him like a wolf about to tear her prey limb from limb.

"This is all your fault." Naruto sneered at Alex who in return just responded with a nonchalant shrug.

"Leah….calm down, I was just a bit peeved that's all." Naruto explained in a nervous quivering voice as he saw her annoyed girlfriend came nearer and nearer like a looming harbinger of untold doom. At that point the shinobi readied himself for a smack but to his surprise when Leah hugged him keenly in a warm embrace.

"I'm just glad you're ok." Leah said in a gentle sob while tears welled up in her eyes. "Don't ever scare me like that."

"I won't. I promise." Naruto said serenely in a soft voice hugging Leah back while his reassurances merged in to ardent protestations of love. He then kissed her torridly as if they were the only ones in the room, eliciting a myriad of reaction from their hushed audience.

" _Ugh, get a room you guys!"_ Seth thought, blenching from the uncomfortable awkwardness of seeing his sister sucking face with the shinobi.

"Alright!" Emmett smirked boyishly, relieved that Naruto is now out of harm's way as well as feeling a certain pride for his blonde foster brother seeing him make out with this fiery hot girl.

"Erhm" Alex coughed sarcastically as if to demand Naruto's attention, which he did caught but only for a moment as the blonde just childishly scoffed at him then went back to kissing Leah. "Erhm!" He then coughed up louder, apparently out of an uncomfortable annoyance.

"What!" Naruto sneered. "What the heck do you want now? You want to kiss me pretty boy? Wait your turn. Oh wait…I don't do other dudes!" He then continued in a comical sarcasm.

"That's not what I heard. A little birdie told me that his first kiss is from Sasuke."Lestat gossipingly whispered to Armand that made the latter along with some of the Cullens chuckle, earning the ire of the exasperated shinobi.

"Yeah, I remember him." Armand snickered.

"Shut it you two!" Naruto chided in a comical chibi mode with a cruciform popping vein in his forehead.

"Why you ungrateful little….." Alex sneered at the shinobi but quickly regained his composure. "Well, I'm sorry to disturb your uncomfortable public display of affection. But I'm afraid you're not out of the woods yet." He then continued acerbically, reaching something from his pocket which he subsequently tossed to Naruto.

With his fast reflexes Naruto was easily able to catch it. "What's this? A flash drive?" He then queried, curiously inspecting a USB flash drive in his hand. "What is this for?"

At this point Alex's eyes glowed white with fiery energy as the young man began to recite something in a harsh hissing tongue akin to the language of serpents that rolled in countless echoes throughout the room.

The hissing inflections that rose in to the air like fire, along with its esoteric meaning and the power it held was alien to the apprehensive vampires and flummoxed shape-shifters who could only be certain that it was some sort of incantation, likely from the darkest of magical lore. With ever watchful vigilance they readied themselves for battle in case the former proved to be treacherous with his intentions.

Anon, a triangular looking glyph, crimson as blood, suddenly formed on Naruto's right arm; and around the glyph manifested ciphers that were not the pictorial symbols or alphabetic characters of any language known to the shinobi nor to the vampires and shape-shifters.

"What's the meaning of this?" Carlisle reproached in a mirthless voice as the rest of the Cullens assumed a more aggressive stance; while Lestat and Armand quickly stationed themselves beside Alex as they seemingly prepared for combat.

"Guys calm down." Seth exclaimed, trying to defuse the situation while Jake and Rosalie hurriedly took Renesmee away to safety.

For a moment there was an uncanny silence as the belligerents sharply glared at each other with bone gritting hostility, and it would seem that soon a violent clash was imminent to erupt.

"I know you can't be trusted." Edward hissed at Alex but was ignored as the young man was seemingly focused solely on his conjuration. He was about to charge but abruptly halted as he heard Naruto's commanding voice.

"Stop!" Naruto said in a voice interlaced with that of amazement, enjoining everyone to calm down as he peered attentively on the arcane seal that had been branded on his arm and watched in stupefaction as the link-like burns on his body was magically drawn then sealed in to the folds of the ciphers while the undulating excruciation and infinite fiery pangs that assailed every square inch of his body earlier wholly died out.

"Listen, your very life depends on this." Alex started in a cold voice.

"What do you mean?" Naruto inquired in a serious and foreboding tone.

"The weapon you used to kill Errealth has sundered him in to infinite shards. The biggest of which was entrenched in you and has acted as the catalyst of your current misfortune; ravaging your body and soul from the inside out, rotting it as the shard's unfathomable raw power slowly unfolds. This, along with the hatred and spite he had prior to the moment of his death will painfully consume you like a dreadful disease." Alex elucidated in a matter-of-fact tone, trying his best not to feel any sort of malice to his friend's killer as he spoke. "I was able to placate the shard by transferring half of my power to you…making it think that it still inhabits my body. While the ciphers branded in your arm are powerful arcane runes of Atlantean magic which will act as a buffer and put it in check for the moment being by enjoining it to dampen back in to its inert state." He then continued which gave everyone much relief. Suddenly however, as everything was seemingly alright trepidation once again mounted in everyone's heart as they saw how the expression on the young man's face became foreboding and his voice turned somber. "However, such measures are only temporary. In time, the shard will circumvent my protective magic and will once again assume its wonted virulence."

"I knew it's too good to be true." Naruto smirked at his predicament. It would seem that the shinobi has already accepted his fate.

"No. This can't be the end of it." Leah muttered in an airy hollow voice while staring blankly in to the air, hoping that some sort of cure can be found to save Naruto.

"There is a way." Alex started in a mellow flowing voice that gave Leah much relief. "On the flash drive is a page from the book of Eibon I transcribed myself….I'm not sure if you can read the runes of Hyperborea so….." He then continued in the same manner though he enunciated the last part of his sentence in a quick monotonic tone which made Naruto sneer a little with a puerile pout on his face that would have been hilarious if it weren't for the serious nature of the subject. "Anyways….within it is the formula of the summoning ritual and the name of the one whose assistance alone can save your life, along with the incantation that will rouse that power and the necessary sacrifices needed for its propitiation."

"This sound shady and all, ya'know." Naruto hummed contemplatively, subsequently gazing incredulously at the demigod. "How can I be sure there won't be any kind of monster that will suddenly appear and eat me after I perform that little diddly squat ritual of yours?" He then inquired in a skeptical tone.

"Because if I wanted you dead I don't even have to lift a finger, all I have to do is to watch you slowly rot." Alex replied nonchalantly, directing a cold glare at the shinobi.

"And what caused this sudden change of heart and mind? Just a week ago you threatened to kill me and everyone I love." He then queried in a tone of mirthless sarcasm and with a sharp steely glare in his eyes, not letting himself easily fall prey to the latter's deceit.

To this Alex sighed deeply as he massaged the bridge of his nose to let out some of his exasperation. "If it would sate your humooooongous ego, let's just say that it's because you're lucky and I'm stupid." He then said sardonically.

"Meh. Fair enough." Naruto shrugged, seemingly content with the latter's answer.

"As I've said earlier, your life depends on this so I hope you'll listen closely." Alex said in a calm but somewhat firmer voice. "Three days from now, Venus, Earth and Mars will align in a planetary syzygy. It is the only time the summoning rites could be performed. Once you successfully executed the evocation ritual a spirit will appear. Ask it to give you the dawn and the dusk. It shall give you two glittering gems. One being larger than the other. The larger of which is a clear white and flawless gemstone that is like crystalized starlight; while the other is only the size of a grain of rice, and is crimson like blood and radiates a strange aura of warmth around it. You must swallow the latter gem. It will enable the fragment of Errealth's power as well as my own to merge in consonance with your essence and thus, in time, you will be able to utilize our powers as you will, greatly enhancing your own already formidable capabilities.

For a moment Naruto brooded about something. "How about the other one….the white gem, I mean." He then inquired curiously.

"Magically it's useless but it's a diamond the size of a monkey's paw so I suggest you hang on to it." Alex replied.

"Hmmm interesting." Naruto hummed. Contemplating about the possibilities and added responsibilities of acquiring even more power.

"I have upheld my part of the bargain." Alex said as he peered back to Carlisle and Edward. "I trust you'll fulfill yours." He continued in a voice that was soft as a viper's hiss.

For a moment of uncanny silence Carlisle and Edward traded glances then the latter nodded to Alex, silently enjoining the young man to follow him.

At that point a memory from a distant dream struck Naruto's cognition like lightning from a cloudless sky. "You're that boy…." He muttered in an airy voice of astonishment and ponderous disbelief. "The only survivor of that village on the high plateau." He then continued in the same manner as he looked curiously at Alex which caught the attention of everyone albeit they have no idea what he's talking about.

"What?" Alex inquired. His head was slightly tilted and there was a perplexed countenance on his face as he looked at the shinobi.

"Nothing." Naruto muttered in a somber voice and with a wistful smile on his lips as he came to the realization that like Leah when he first saw her, the young man was seemingly wholly oblivious of his former life as a child of the Elemental Nations. "Ya' know, if things were a little different we could have been friends." He then said in a tone of owlish irony as he smirked.

"Perhaps" Alex concurred, smiling back with the same ironic smirk. "But it's too late now." He continued and was about to walk away but for some reason stopped on his tracks and peered back at Naruto. "By the way….Errealth's curse would've only activated at the moment of you experiencing the bliss of true happiness. If you'll indulge me to inquire, what caused you to experience such?" He then queried in a curious but somehow sheepish tone.

Hearing this Naruto looked at Leah and smiled. "When I found out that I'm gon'na be a dad." He then said, turning his gaze back to the young man.

"Ahh…how lucky you are." Alex nodded, a placid smile emanated on his face though he can't help but feel a bit of guilt for threatening the life of an innocent unborn child during the fit of his temporary insanity that time he battled the shinobi in Isle Esme. "For what it's worth Naruto…..I'm sorry….for everything." He then said in a broken and barely audible voice along with a genuinely apologetic beam that surprised everyone; though, they weren't given any chance to respond for the young man has now swiftly strode away with Edward to the other room where Bella laid.

It was a strange scene indeed, of how the remaining children of the Elemental Nations were reunited after more than ten millennia of temporal separation. As if destiny quipped for the entertainment of those higher beings watching from above but wasn't funny at all to those who are subject to the cruel joke.

Stranger still, amidst his own confusion Naruto noticed the singular expression on Lestat and Armand's face. Though they were able to hide it very well from everyone else, the shinobi, with his sharp powers of observation and sage-like awareness of his surroundings, easily picked up the minor and subtle mien on the two, leading him to believe that they were privy to something no one else knows.

As if the young man has given them a telepathic message of some impending misfortune for the expression on the umber parchment of their countenance was that of grief and sadness, like that of someone about to lose a brother and powerless to stop it.

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"Right here" Edward said, leading Alex to an adjacent room which looked like a hospital's intensive care unit, complete with all sorts of medical equipment.

"Uhm privacy" Alex requested but it was something Edward's never going to grant as he watched him like a hawk, fearing he'll steal Bella's body or something.

"That wasn't part of the deal." Edward said coldly.

"Fine" Alex sighed as he entered the room.

In a cot located on the far side of the room he saw Bella, who was now a cold corpse. The latter was emaciated, reflecting the hardships of his pregnancy and labor. The piteous scene has visibly crushed the young man's heart judging by the expression of despondency and sorrow on his face as he pulled a chair next to the bed then sat beside her and gently held her hand.

"You are as beautiful the day I met you. I remember that day quite clearly. We were at biology class, and you're seemingly annoyed about something, or someone…. " Alex said, quipping lightheartedly and looking at the lifeless Bella with ardent eyes, recalling the first day they met.

"I remember when you greeted me, the new kid, with that ever so sweet smile of yours while you seemingly shimmered as the soft rays of the sun gently touched your skin with its golden light. The truth is I fell in love with you that very moment. I couldn't even begin to remember how many times I wanted to ask you out to a movie but every time I try I froze up and stutter like an idiot. Truly, it's a sad thing in life when you meet someone who means a lot to you, only to find out in the end that it was never meant to be and you just have to let go. In some strange way, I always kinda knew that we can never be more than friends for you love someone else but I was too stubborn to admit it. People think I'm stupid for making you the center of my universe, but it doesn't matter. Seeing you smile is the one thing that has always given me hope and happiness as I watched behind the shadows, hidden. My only regret is that my physical weakness has left me incapable of helping you any further…..and that I never had the courage to tell you how much I loved you from the very beginning." He then continued in a gentle voice and with watery eyes, smiling softly while he held Bella's hand.

"Well, I'm afraid I have to go now Bella….it would seem I have to prepare for my final journey very soon. Honestly, I don't really know which path to thread next or what fate awaits me in the end, but please know that I will forever hold our friendship dear to my heart as I walk in to the night….and wherever my journey would take me I shall always think of you fondly. Farewell Bella, my best friend from Forks. I wish that you will always be happy everyday of your new immortal life."

He then kissed Bella on her forehead and whispered in to her ear the incantation that resurrects the recently deceased, subsequently sacrificing his remaining divine power to reinforce the dimensional barrier that divides the human sphere from the outer-realm, buying the denizens of Earth more time.

" _Lord of the Crossroads, I hail thee._

 _Guide her in life as in death,_

 _May she walk in truth and balance,_

 _Guide her through the shadows of night,_

 _Challenge her in the dark,_

 _Guard her when she cannot guard herself,_

 _Open the ways of her heart that it may be pure and light upon the scale._

 _Open her eyes and awaken her soul. Let light come from darkness, ever fresh, let it take form and serve its purpose, then let life be its reward."_

Unfortunately, the very enchantment that rechanneled Bella's life energy back to her body and anchored her spirit in to the world of the living has quenched Alex's life in return.

"Please….take care of her." Alex said to Edward his final words in a soft voice.

"I will." Edward nodded solemnly.

Hearing this Alex nodded back contentedly with a gentle smile on his face, silently accepting his fate as he started to fade in to nothingness. Thinning away until he was like a transparent silhouette from which Edward could see through him as clearly as one could see through glass.

In the end, all that remained of him were softly shimmering ethereal stardust that was like a thousand fireflies swept away by a gust of wind and ascended in to the dark blue heavens unhindered by mundane obstacles and no longer troubled by the pains of mortal sorrow.

 **-End**

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 **Hey there folks!**

 **I'm back! It has been quite a while. My post-grad classes in the university just started a month ago and boy was it intense. Thankfully, I was able to catch a break tlast weekend to update the story.**

 **So, in this chapter Alex died. Originally, the story should've only spanned 18 chapters but all the love and support from you awesome people has inspired me to extend it. I had real a blast writing especially the fight scenes. So yeah, as I have explained before. Initially, Alex would've played a minor role post Errealth's death until he himself expires shortly afterwards. The reason why he has to linger far longer is because of this chapter where gives Naruto a final power boost. At the time I wasn't really able to tell you about this in full detail nor can I tell you yet the purpose of the power boost as it would be a big spoiler.**

 **Anyways, all I could say for now my dear readers is that there would be some interesting stuff happening in the near future**

 **As always any suggestions that would help improve the story is always welcomed.**

 **See you next chapter!**

 **Cheerio :)**


	29. Chapter 29: The Forgotten Ones

Confused and afraid, Bella found herself standing in a strange thoroughfare, so extensive she can't see its endpoint. The eerie ancient alleyway was lit by flickering wisp-like flames that hung in mid-air and glowed with a pallid ghostly illumination that was somnolently refracted by the gray stone walls that covered the passageway on both sides, along with an arcade of nigh-decrepit columns, carved thickly from the same dolorous stone and spaced in broad intervals.

One of the things that unnerved her are the strange denizens occupying that unearthly vicinage, for they all have torpid expressions on their hollow faces and the black languor of weariness in their half-closed lids as they walked drearily in a long undulant pageant, in a fashion akin to that of an eternal solemn procession of the night.

"Waylon?..." Bella muttered under her breath. Naturally, she was shocked and couldn't believe whom she saw for he has been dead for more or less than two years, slain by a coven of nomadic vampires.

With trembling limbs Bella turned her head a little and saw that Waylon, along with the other denizens of that ghastly place, has a dark, hollow and languorous expression on their faces as they moved in a solemn pageant. Bella tried to call him out but there was no response, then as her gaze fell on to the other denizens passing her like a train of somnambulists, she noticed that they all have strangely pale features and were inhabited in the garments of the grave.

Subsequently, like the red hot branding of iron on to her flesh, she came in to the painful and ghastly realization that these people were the restless shadows of the deceased, and that the endless grim cloister of which they were compelled to trudge interminably was purgatory; and the fact that she's in the spectral realm and treading side by side with these phantoms could only mean that she's dead.

"No….this can't be." Bella protested in the most broken voice. She tried to resist, tried to went out of the flow but it was useless, as if she's an insignificant ship caught on the grip of a tempestuous maelstrom, helpless and unable to do anything as the turbulent and unforgiving currents dragged her violently in to the dark abyss.

Suddenly, she felt someone grab her hand and pulled her out of the eldritch procession. However her relief quickly turned in to ominous trepidation as quickly as she lifted her head and saw the one who emancipated her.

"Alex?" Bella muttered under her breath, her eyes widened in fear.

He looked at Bella with those sapphire blue orbs, smiled ever so softly and pointed the way without her ever needing to ask. The beam that broke over the young man's face was not the horrible rictus grin of a deranged instrument of annihilation she once beheld in horror during the latter's meltdown and unhinged rampage at Isle Esme, but something sweeter, something a little bit more amicable that somehow reassured her that he meant no harm.

Tracing the direction where Alex's forefinger was pointed, Bella saw the entrance of a tapered corridor which she could've sworn wasn't in that particular place earlier.

"What's in there?" Bella mumbled; her low voice was partially quivering from uneasiness.

However, there was no reply. Then as she turned her head once again, she saw that he was gone, vanished completely without a trace save for a dissipating, wispy shimmering billow of ethereal stardust in his lieu.

Fretfully, Bella walked adjacent to the narrow ingress but didn't dare enter. Like a condemned heretic who stood between the agonizing torture racks of the inquisition and the consuming flames of the auto-da-fé, she pondered; is this her gateway to salvation, or is she about to exchange her eidolon haunted oubliette for something even worse, infernally worse.

For a full hour she just stood there in deep and serious contemplation, staring blankly at the marmoreal porticoes stationed on both sides of the ingress like sentinels. Mustering all her courage she forced herself to overcome her fear and took the first step, diffidently followed by another one, then another one; until she realized she already passed the threshold, and was deep inside the tapered passageway.

Midway in to her crossing, Bella felt the urge of curiosity that made her eyes wander from the path and in to the high walls, only to discover that the narrow corridor was illuminated by burning mounted human skeletons, of which flames issued changeably in blue and purple and crimson. Wild and lurid was their light, and the eldritch hall was filled with malign, equivocal shadows that shifted and changed eternally.

Continuing with feeble strides, Bella traversed the corridor's stretch until she reached its cul-de-sac, from which stood a heavy door of eon blackened wood. Once again, the seething uncertainty of salvation or everlasting damnation has converted itself in to foreboding that slowly mounted on to her heart like the potent venom of desert adders.

Should she open the door and brave what's on the other side or should she turn back? Unfortunately, there wasn't really much of a choice for the ingress from where she made her way has now closed and the walls seemed to become narrower and narrower, sealing her in.

Desperate and consumed with fear, she frantically lifted the corroded iron latch and quickly throw the door open, then jumped out of the cavernous doorway, and in to the other side of the unknown, escaping the narrowing corridor that was like the constricting coils of a serpent that's about to crush the bones of its victim.

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Nigh paralyzed with fear, Bella slowly stood up. Then as she lifted her head she found herself deep in a dark forest where hope is but a memory.

Strange was that ancient woods, for the trees that grew in its folds were somewhat alive, groaning. They were like men and women whose greed and avarice became the heavy chains that bound them to the ground and cursed them to spend eternity on that malign realm, becoming trees that were twisted and knotted, and heavy with centurial incrustations of bark on their humped and misshapen trunks as if the perverted manifestations of unremembered sins.

Suddenly, she heard the tumultuous galloping of hooves, which could only mean that she's not alone. Startled, she slowly turned around to where the sound seems to originate.

Bella's eyes widened and she gasped involuntarily in apprehension, seeing a figure coming at her from the dark part of the forest. It was a ghostly rider barreling through the shadows; mounted on an ash colored horse, and donned a cloak of stars along with a night black hood that covered his grim, sad, tired visage.

"Who are you?" Bella inquired in a low, stuttering voice as the mysterious horseman halted in front of her, and she saw the smoke like vapors issued from the steed's nostrils.

"I am many things and I have many names, but you and your kind call me Death." The rider said without any language or speech involved. His voice, or what Bella thought as a voice that issued from him, was cold and unearthly, and suggested the light of remote worlds and stars translated into sound; of which penetrant vibrations was like a hidden music that pulsed strongly in to her nerves.

Literally looking at the face of the reaper filled Bella with fear she never felt before which spread slowly from her heart to her toes.

"Come child. I shall take you to your rightful place." Death once again spoke in the same manner as he extended an arm to Bella.

Knowing the identity of the eldritch dark horseman in front of her, Bella didn't dare disobey nor argue but gripped the bony fingers of the rider like a person who blindly obeys the doom of dreams. Death then pulled her up and mounted her to his ashen palfrey, subsequently charging forward to some enigmatic destination illusive to the comprehension of a mere mortal.

Great distance did the charger trod and with equally baffling celerity that they were now galloping through the air and through the clouds, seemingly burning through every obstacle on their way; and before she knew it they were already about to make it through the boundaries of the dimensional barrier of the supermundane realm that would normally be impossible for an unassisted soul.

The dimensional barrier, an ethereal iridescent veil, rippled as they passed through it like an inverted puddle of liquefied starlight.

Suddenly, everything became covered in white mist similar to that of high rising clouds; and from afar Bella saw a city of unrivaled supernal magnificence. From a mortal's point of view, the great city looks as if it is a small world unto itself, a sprawling complex of glittering, soaring crystalline spires and sweeping buttresses of which architecture pulses with light, as if they were sitting on a backdrop of radiant luminescence.

"Behold! The kingdom of heaven." Death said. Though his telepathic voice was scarcely heard by his companion whose eyes where affixed on the wonders of paradise.

As they closed in and streaked above the heavenly gates of shimmering gold and silver, Bella beheld in great astonishment and awe the wonders of the prodigious city up-close. She saw a great throne amidst a great gathering of winged angels; and on the throne was a lamb with seven eyes and seven horns, and on its right hand was a scroll sealed with seven seals; and on both its sides, a pair of archangels stationed themselves. One of which had in his cupped hands a gold bowl full of incense while the other held a silver censer, from which, tendrils of white smoke rose like the prayers of the faithful.

"Glory, glory, glory!" The angels rejoiced unceasingly, as day and night they worshipped and praised the one sitting on the throne.

"Is this where you're taking me?" Bella queried in a hopeful voice interlaced with that of much wonder.

"No" Death replied in a cold and casual tone, spurring his palfrey to gallop faster.

Shortly, they reached the snowy peak of a high mountain from which Bella heard the sound of blood curdling shrieks which became louder and more cringing as they came nearer. Then she saw legions of winged angels dragging a great number of terrified people by the heels of their feet from the rugged base of the great mountain and then subsequently flinging them in to a fiery crater on its summit.

"These men and women were wicked when they're still alive. They have been judged unworthy to enter paradise, and thus these souls shall now be judged once again….to face their eternal punishment." Death said to Bella as he gripped the reigns of his palfrey and directed it to dive in to the crater.

She wanted to scream as loud as she could as the charger made a sharp descent in to the blazing inferno but her tongue froze from utter fear, all she could do is to shut her eyes tightly and hope to survive.

Then opening her eyes slowly, she beheld a horrific and downright stomach turning scene for she know now literally found herself in the bowels of hell. Beneath the ominous crimson were hails of fire that burst unpredictably from the burning nether skies, and crashed violently on a vast boiling sea of blood below where the anguished souls of the wicked were being forever after simmered on the very blood they spilled when they were still alive.

Shifting her gaze, she recognized a familiar face among the millions of screaming damned souls. It was James, or what was left of him. He was emaciated, fretted, and sniveling; barely recognizable from the self-confident and vainglorious vampire that he was; a result of being subjected to the non-ending excruciation and diabolic tortures of his demonic tormentors who delighted in inflicting agony upon their prey.

Unable to bear the horrific sight any longer Bella closed her eyes once more, hiding the chocolate brown of her orbs behind a curtain of tightly shut eyelids until such horror has passed.

For incomputable hours her eyes remained bolted, hopping that shutting one of her senses would help assuage the petrifying confrontation with pure infernal horror. It was for naught however, as she could still hear the tormented screeches of the damned; smell the nauseating stench of brimstone that was infused with the odor of burning blood and rotting flesh; and feel on her skin the scorching heat of the abyss. And this menagerie of hostile sensations has painted a horrific scene inside the darkness of her psyche that was too mind shattering to behold.

"Open your eyes child and brave yourself from the things you're about to see, for this realm feeds on fear; and the more you fear the more you're going to lose your mind." Death said in a firm, authoritative voice, like that of a learned sage directing a lost soul to retake the right path.

Slowly and not without fear Bella lifted her lids and opened her eyes. Then, to her horror, she found herself in a different circle of hell. It looked like a craggy, black stone and ash filled wasteland with stinking vapors, smoke, fire pits, and rivers of molten lava flowing portentously.

And on the islets of heat blackened stone, which was cunningly scattered amidst the infernal tributary, are the damned souls who were forced to labor for eternity, building great statues and monuments of a mighty demon lord who ruled that circle of hell. And on the shrunken shoulders of each damned soul perched an imp that was brown as bitumen and was, superficially, rodent-like in appearance. And these imps greedily nibbled bit-by-bit the exposed living brains of their hosts, who were powerless to protest and could only endure their horrible existence and the constant agony that came with it.

Soon, the demon lord of whom the great statues were wrought from his image came and with great fury destroyed every single monument of himself due to some tiny unnoticeable flaws. Then in a cruel, stentorian and imperative voice, and with a painful lash of his fire wreathed whip he demanded the damned souls to begin building bigger and ever grander monument of their lord, and to a level of perfection far beyond what is achievable.

"This cycle will recur over and over again until the end of time. What the damned strove to build with their blood, sweat and tears is almost instantly destroyed by their brutally pedant overlord who wouldn't settle for anything less than absolute perfection." Death said to Bella, who at the moment was filled with aghast.

"But what did they do to deserve such punishment?" Bella cried, taking pity on the wretched howling souls who were sadistically being scourged by the demon lord, and assaulted with long knives by his overseeing lesser fiends, spurring them to work faster when they tarry for just a moment.

"They are the anonymous trolls and bashers on the internet who spread their hate and bitterness online, who deride the work of others in order to feel good about themselves in a pathetic way. Now, they shall forever be belittled and tormented by an infinitely harsher and much more unforgiving critic who is and shall never be satisfied of their work." Death responded with cold indifference.

To this, Bella looked inquisitively at the reaper, hoping for further explanation, but the latter vouchsafed no more utterance. Slowly, her curiosity then transformed in to fear. Is one of these torture pits of hell her fate? She thought edgily to herself in secret.

"No" Death answered without her ever needing to ask. "This plane is but a necessary path to our journey. Hold on tight for we are now nearing our destination." He then continued, tightening his grasp on the reins as his steed ascended then careen even faster, passing through a portal that opened in front of them like a great eye. Suddenly everything became filled with webs of intricate colors, with swiftly changing kaleidoscopic glints whose numberless, unwonted hues and patterns were such as no mundane eye had ever beheld.

The vertiginous sight was once again too much for Bella, and for the nth time she closed her eyes; but anon, she felt no longer the dry withering heat of hell but the soothing cool breeze of a familiar vicinage.

Slowly, she opened her eyes, and her pupils dilated from the different kind of light. Unlike the harsh sanguine illumination, in which the malign caverns of hell swam and weltered as if seen through a luminous mist of blood, she saw that the landscape was being bathed by the soft silver rays of the moon who has fallen westward, half-way between midnight and dawn.

"Look" Death said in an echoing voice, pointing forward his bony index finger.

Obeying the reaper's injunction Bella saw the Cullen's house in front of her; a large, graceful house, rectangular and well-proportioned, painted a faded white. The southern wall is almost entirely made of glass, with a view of the Calawah River.

"Why did you take me here?" Bella wondered in much bewilderment.

"This is where you must be…your rightful place." Death replied, assisting her dismount from the ashen palfrey.

"But I'm dead." Bella said inquisitively and with a slightly tilted head, gazing upon the reaper with an ever so perplexed countenance on her face.

"The necessary propitiation for your resurrection has been satisfied. You were given another chance to once again walk in to the world of the living. Use that second chance wisely, child." Death elucidated to Bella with a dry smile playing at the edges of his lip. "Go forth, o houseless phantom. It is time for thou to rejoin thy mortal flesh, and be as one once again." He then continued in a mellow flowing but authoritative voice as he subsequently spurred his mount and rode off, disappearing amidst darkening boles of ancient trees.

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The moon grew grey with the nearness of dawn as it swam above the somber oaks and pines, and poured a spectral silver on the glass walls and on the roof of the Cullen's abode.

Suddenly Bella became unnerved as she heard a strange ruckus coming from inside the house, quickly followed by the loud, booming crunch of violently breaking wood. Quickly turning her gaze to the door, she saw how it dislodged viciously from the doorpost as if impacted by a tremendous force from the other side. Subsequently, being in a spiritual form, she beheld the shattered pieces of wood passed through her as light passes through a screen of glass.

"What's happening?" She mumbled to herself, fearing for the safety of the Cullens, especially Naruto of whom she just recalled to have been assaulted by some kind of ghastly creature from beyond. At this point the thought of her daughter, Renesmee, also came to her mind like lightning from a cloudless sky.

Without hesitation, she gathered all her strength and decided to brave whatever monster lies inside the Cullen's house but she was taken aback when she suddenly saw the one responsible for all the chaos storming out of the threshold of where the door once stood.

It was a boy, no older than fifteen by the looks of him. He has auburn curls and perfectly formed limbs, of fair and mysterious face. His soft reddish hair was loose and tangled. His flesh was pale and the bones of his face only faintly sharpened by his Slavic blood.

Anon, Bella's eyes widened in horror like a person who just relieved a dark nightmare as she recalled who that boy is. It was the vampire Armand, of whom with another vampire named Lestat and a raven haired boy, of which only Naruto knew the identity thereof, has effortlessly slaughtered James and his coven.

Strangely, Bella noticed on closer inspection that there is an air of grief fueled rage on the countenance of Armand's face like someone struck with much grief from the unexpected passing of someone dear to him.

Closely shadowing him was Lestat. A tall, handsome man with long blond hair, and possessed the old aristocratic charm of ancient nobility melded with the somewhat coquettish air of a rockstar; Bella noted. The expression on his face was that also of grief stricken man but much calmer, if not more contained.

"Do you really have to kick their door Armand?" Lestat queried in a soft voice, trying to lighten the unfortunate situation but his companion just glared at him with unbridled indignation for a long, uncomfortable moment then launched himself in to the clouds and flew like a jet.

This made Lestat shook his head in both grief, due to his friend's death, and exasperation of Armand's tantrum before he himself also took to the air and streaked.

Shifting her gaze to the house, Bella saw Naruto and the Cullen's, along with Jake, Leah and Seth standing on the threshold of the broken door; all of them have gloomy and somber expressions on their faces, and for some reason this has overwhelmed her with a consciousness of an unknown guilt.

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(Cullen's House)

"Is she gon'na be alright?" Edward inquired to Naruto with a trembling voice that reflected his growing concern as he looked at his unconscious wife.

"She will be. I have no doubt about that." Naruto smiled at his sibling in reassurance.

"But…she…she should have awakened by now." Edward added.

"I'm sure she will." Naruto replied then shifted his gaze to Bella's spirit and winked at her.

"You can see me all this time?" Bella inquired to which the shinobi responded with a subtle nod and a fox like half-smile smile.

"Our secret." Naruto said telepathically to her with a subtly lifted finger, enjoining furtiveness. "I think you should get back to your body now. Eddie is starting to become a little paranoid." He then continued, chuckling lightly.

"Found something amusing?" Edward inquired with a confounded countenance on his face. "And why did you just close your mind at me?" He then continued, looking incredulously at his blonde sibling.

"Nothing" Naruto replied in a sheepish voice. "And jeez Edward….can't I get a little bit of privacy over here?" He then continued, changing his tone to that of virtuous indignation.

"If you say so." Edward replied skeptically then shifted his gaze back to Bella's cataleptic husk.

"Bella, I think you should definitely fuse back with your body…like right now…before Edward loses his marbles." Naruto urged telepathically.

"I would love to but I don't know how." Bella responded crestfallenly.

"Hmmm I may be able to help you with that." Naruto said with a wide, amicable smile on his face as he formed a seal of confrontation. Subsequently, rippled patterns emerged from his now purple and faintly glowing eyes. "You ready?" He then queried.

"Yes." Bella nodded.

"Okay, here we go." Naruto said as he channeled the power of his Rinnegan that transformed Bella's spirit in to vapor like form which he enjoined to enter her body through the mouth.

Suddenly, Edward stirred as he noticed one of Bella's fingers twitch.

Bella on the other hand felt a whirlwind of sensations as she merged back with her earthly form. It seemed that a royal wine, sweet and puissant, was poured into her mouth from an overbrimming goblet. She felt in her throat and bosom a swift warmth that almost suffocated her; and a strange fever sang in her ears and wildered her senses. It passed quickly, and she was startled from her bemusement by a sharp pain that paralyzed her from head to toe as Edward's venom flow through her blood stream, repairing the injuries she incurred during her sudden and disastrous childbirth.

The venom, has also almost completely transformed her in to a vampire by now. This rapid metamorphosis was elicited by the fact that Edward directly injected massive quantities of it directly in to her heart, along with biting her in multiple parts of her body due to the latter's desperation at the moment.

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Bella's eyes snapped open. It was no longer the chocolate brown orbs she had as a human but are now the burgundy red of a newborn vampire. Now awakened from her cataleptic slumber, the first thing she saw was a river of sunshine clear as molten gold pouring through the window.

The eerie fog enfolding the vicinity had wholly vanished, and no lightest tatter of cloud was visible anywhere in the pale-blue heavens. With vampiric speeds she ran to the window and peered out on a world of autumnal forest and fields all a-sparkled with the diamonds of rain. All was beautiful, all was idyllic to a degree that could be fully appreciated only by one who had already lived for a sufficient time to gain the wisdom of appreciation, or in her case, seen the fires of eternal damnation.

Suddenly, she felt someone's hand on her shoulder. It was cold and hard as granite but strangely stimulated a subtle tingle deep inside her, and triggered a peculiar, overpowering sense of romantic attraction, which somehow seemed so natural, so inevitable, that she couldn't help herself but to draw her gaze to its owner and saw that it was Edward, the latter has a sweet and ardent smile on his face as he looked at her so tenderly.

"Edward" Bella said with an amorous smile, subsequently hugging Edward as tight as she could.

"Bella…Bella" Edward yelped from the bone crushing strength of the newborn. "Let go for a moment." He then continued as a cracking sound reverberated on the four corners of the room from his breaking skin.

"Oh my god I'm sorry." Bella gasped, guiltily. "Are you alright?" She then inquired.

"Yeah" Edward chuckled, groping his ribcage. "I guess I forgot to tell you about the strength of newborns huh?" He then continued which made the both of them laugh lightheartedly.

However as they snickered, their eyes unexpectedly met. Inevitably, it opened the doors of amorous splendors. They flung themselves upon each other. Edward held Bella's hands then kissed them avidly, pouring out protestations that were no doubt incoherent, but were nevertheless full of an ardor that made her smile tenderly. Her hand was cool to his lips, but the touch of it fired their passions.

"Ugh guys?" A voice said, interrupting them.

"Naruto?" Edward said, a bit shocked. "Since how long you've been standing there?" He then queried uneasily, partially reflecting his exasperation of the latter's intrusion of his and Bella's private moment.

"Seriously?" Naruto muttered with a continuously furrowing brow. "Dude I've been right here in this spot for like five hours now ya'know. I even held your hand and gave you a hug when you thought Bella wasn't going to wake up." He then continued with an increasing rigor on his voice.

"Oh yeah I forgot…."Edward mumbled sheepishly.

"Yeah right you horny little bastard." Naruto mumbled inaudibly as he pouted childishly and eyed Edward incredulously. "Anyways….everyone's excited to see you Bella. Plus, I reckon you might want to see Renesmee as well." He then said in a much jovial tone, turning his attention to Bella.

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"Uhm…Naruto" Bella started as they walked but she suddenly became hesitant, thinking that all she saw and experienced was just a dream.

Naruto however knew exactly what she's about to ask and was expecting the question to pop up for quite a bit now. "Yeah, all you saw back there wasn't a dream. They're all real Bella. But don't worry its over now." He answered in a calm and soothing voice.

At this point they were on the living room and Esme was the first one to saw Bella in her new form save for Edward and Naruto. "Welcome to the family." She greeted in a kindly maternal voice, smiling at her.

"You look amazing Bella." Alice supplemented while Jasper nod at her in concurrence.

"Someone's been waiting to meet you." Carlisle said in a gentle voice, stepping back, revealing Renesmee which was being held by Rosalie, while Jake was standing close by like a sentinel.

"Rose" Edward said to her sibling who was so completely preoccupied with the child she affectionately held in her arms that it seemingly made her forgot about her surroundings.

Hearing her sibling call her name, Rosalie turned around and saw the newly transformed Bella, much to her relief and happiness to see the latter well; and indeed vampirism suited her well, she admitted to herself. She smiled softly then slowly handed Renesmee to her mother.

Bella held Renesmee in her arms, the emotions she felt were that of overwhelming happiness and wonder. "This child" She thought "….is my and Edward's miracle and our dearest treasure." And from that moment she promised to herself to always keep her safe no matter what, and always fill her days with happiness and joy.

Suddenly, Renesmee reached for Bella and subsequently glimpse of dreamlike visions flashed inside the latter's head. They were beautiful visions; visions filled with love and warmth.

"What was that?" Bella inquired, slightly bewildered.

"She showed you the first memories she had with you." Edward explained in a gentle voice.

"Showed me how?" Bella wondered.

"How do I hear thoughts? How does Alice see the future?" Edward smiled. "It is a gift."

"Alright." Jacob interjected. "That's enough experimenting for one day." He then said as he reached for Renesmee.

"Jacob…..she's doing great." Edward said levelheadedly in gentle reprimand.

"Yeah, let's not push it though." Jake replied as he continued to reach for the baby.

To this Bella looked at her with an inquiring look, as if demanding to know what's going on. "What's your problem?" She then said that for some reason made cold sweat race from Jake's forehead to his face.

"Oh, do tell her Jacob." Rosalie said in an unctuously ironic voice, and smiling oddly as if expecting something amusing would happen very soon.

"This should be good." Emmett murmured to Naruto with a widening grin on his face.

"Oh, someone's gon'na get it now." Naruto whispered back in a weird voice as if suppressing a chuckle as he and Emmett furtively high-fived each other. Like Rosalie they were eagerly waiting to see what happens next.

"Hold her a second." Jake said to Edward with half-trembling voice of fear as Bella's penetrating glare smote right through him like a sharp dagger.

"Bella…" Edward said to her wife, enjoining her to hand Renesmee to him for a moment which the latter just did without breaking her razor sharp gaze on the shape-shifter.

"Look…." Jake mumbled with quivering lips. "…it's a wolf thing."

"What's a wolf thing?" Bella said in a deathly serious voice.

"Uhhm…." Jake said, thinking his next words very carefully as he saw the expression of pure, unbridled maternal fury shaping in on the countenance of Bella's face. "You know we have no control over it….we can't choose who it happens with….and it doesn't mean what you mean Bella….I promise." He then explained in a stuttering voice.

"Take Renesmee out of the room." Bella said to Rosalie while Edward gently laid his hand on her shoulder to try and calm her down.

"Oh, it's happening." Naruto muttered. Both he and Emmett have excited smirks on their faces as Jake gasped nervously.

"Edward don't touch me right now I don't want to hurt you." Bella said with barely controlled anger in her voice that made Edward pull his hands off his wife.

"Uooh" Jake gulped fretfully.

Suddenly, Bella grabbed Jake on the back of his neck which made everyone snicker save for Esme, then dragged the Quileute on to the porch and send him flying on a grass field outside the Cullen's house.

"Naruto, please do something." Esme implored to the only being present with the strength to hold back an angry newborn.

"Relax" Naruto chuckled which didn't help calm Esme's nerves at all.

"You imprinted on my daughter!" Bella said in a thunderous voice that reverberated the hell-brew of shock and fury inside of her.

"It wasn't my choice." Jake said as he stood up.

"She's a baby!" Bella thundered.

"It's not like that. You think Edward would let me live if it was?" Jake explained, trying to maintain his composure.

"We're still debating it." Edward said nonchalantly as he leaned atop the balustrades of the terrace.

" _Come on dude. I'm dying here!"_ Jake thought as he looked imploringly at Naruto but the latter just gave him an innocent shrug. "Thanks a lot." He then muttered in a sarcastic voice but fell silent again as he realized that Bella was angrily walking towards his direction.

"I held her once. One time Jacob! And you think you have some moronic wolfy claim on her!" Bella roared subsequently giving Jacob a lightning fast, powerful jab on the torso. "She's mine!" She continued as Jacob was sent stumbling from the force of the blow.

At this point Leah and Seth arrived on the scene in their wolf forms. The former gave Naruto a castigating glare for letting things get so out of hand.

Spurred by the penetrating glare of disapproval from his girlfriend, Naruto was obligated to act. "Ok guys. Let's not be like children. Let's act like sensible adults over here." He then said, stepping forward to diffuse the situation.

"Stay out of this Naruto!" Bella exclaimed.

"Ok" Naruto said in a more than compliant voice as he made a U-turn back to the porch.

" _It doesn't really take much to dissuade you huh?"_ Leah thought sardonically as he gave Naruto a disapproving look, knowing that the shinobi is actually enjoying the ensuing fracas.

"What? I tried." Naruto said triflingly, shrugging then subsequently turning his attention back to Bella and Jake with much childish delight.

"Unbelievable" Leah shook her head in exasperation. Then seeing Bella walking furiously toward Jake she growled menacingly at her.

"It's ok Leah" Jake said, enjoining her and Seth to stand down.

"You're gon'na stay away from her." Bella said mirthlessly.

"You know I can't do that." Jake replied, earning him another blow in the midriff from Bella.

"Stop her Edward." Esme said worriedly.

"I said its fine." Edward reassured. "She's amazing right?" He then continued, smiling lightheartedly.

Slowly, Jake stood up. "Do you remember how much you want to be around me when you're still carrying her? It's all gone now right?"

"Long gone." Bella replied, still enraged but the question has triggered something in her that piqued her curiosity.

"Because it was her. From the beginning it was Nessie who want me there." Jake expounded.

At the beginning Bella seemed to have calmed down but her fury ignited once again upon hearing her daughter's sobriquet. "Nessie? You nicknamed my daughter after the Loch Ness monster!" She howled, more livid than ever.

"Ok, this is escalating more quickly than I thought." Naruto muttered under his breath, the jovial expression on his face was quickly replaced with that of a serious foreboding.

Unable to take it any longer, Seth leaped in front to defend Jake but was met with an incoming, impetuous strike from Bella. However, before the debilitating clout could connect Naruto suddenly materialized in between them and fluidly caught the newborn's hand, diffusing her blow.

"Enough Bella!" Naruto exclaimed as he let go of Bella's hand. There seemed to be a compelling spell on the vibrations of his authoritative, imperious and indomitable voice that made Bella calm down and felt the unexplainable need to obey the shinobi's injunction.

At this point Jake gathered all his courage and regained his composure, stepping forward. "Bella" He started in a calm and sincere voice. "You know me. Better than anyone. All I want is for Ness…Renesmee to be safe, and happy. Look, nothing ever made sense before. You, me, any of it…..and now I understand why. This was the reason."

Hearing these words, the last shreds of fury within Bella seemingly melted and she nodded in relent, much to Jake's relief.

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(Three Days Later)

For hours Naruto waited on the darkest part of the forest with a rather distant stare as he waited for the commencement of the celestial syzygy for the evocation ritual to be conducted. He knew that he'll be gone for a few months but didn't bid a proper farewell to Leah or his foster family for he hate goodbyes.

Then in the hour of the wolf he drew on the ground a triangle from the compounded mixture of powdered silver and fresh bird's blood; and encircling that triangle he had traced an infrangible ellipse, made by an endless linked repetition of the name of the being he is to evoke. Then, he waited while the pole-circling stars went over and the necessary planets align perfectly within one another, as had been prescribed.

When everything was in place he lit the censers positioned in the tree angles of the triangle, and contained the necessary incense and balsams for the evocation ritual.

The fumes of the censers, blue and white and violet, arose in thick clouds and speedily saturated the vicinity with ever-writhing interchanging columns, among which the darkness disappeared and was succeeded by a wan unearthly glow, pale as the light of moons that ascend from Lethe.

This was followed by Naruto reciting an incantation to call upon the being, a forgotten goddess named Kanash who have been worshipped by an ancient civilization from prehistoric time, when the world was still young. The shrill, sibilant words were from a lost language that was difficult for most people to articulate, and whose intonation formed a signal part of the ceremony.

Subsequently the shinobi went on in a priest-like chant till the incantation was ended and the last echoes lessened and died out in hollow sepulchral vibrations. Then the colored vapors cleared away, as if the folds of a curtain had been drawn back. But the pale unearthly glow still filled the vicinity, and in lieu of the censers, there now stood three gigantic skeletons that wore golden crowns on their withered craniums and were fully caparisoned in an armor of bronze, beneath the royal cerements of purple and scarlet they wore.

"What the hell…." Naruto muttered, a bit shocked for he wasn't expecting anything like this.

Then with dry clicking of their teeth, and whistling as of air through screens of fretted ivory, the skeletons spoke. "We, who were warriors of a race forgotten, have been sent by the goddess Kanash as a guard of honor for Uzumaki Naruto to attend him as is befitting, and so that he should be guarded from all peril and should fare forth in such pageantry as is meet and proper."

"I appreciate the love ya'know but I could manage. Really, I do. Just point me were your boss is." Naruto said.

However, the skeletons seemed to not hear nor took notice of his request, and instead each drew from the fold of his robes a curiously pierced archaic flute of silver and played it. The saccharine music that issued from them was like the falling and rippling of water in quiet vales, and the passing of wind over lonely hilltops. Subtly the melody told of freedom and peace and forgetfulness lying beyond the sevenfold purple of outland horizons. Dulcetly they sang of a place where the years came not with an iron trampling, but were soft of tread as a zephyr shod with flower petals. There the world's turmoil and troubling were lost upon measureless leagues of silence, and the burdens of empires were blown away like thistledown. There Naruto saw himself lying on a field of soft grass, and was possessed of tranquility sweeter than the power of monarchs.

For a split second the shinobi closed his eyes, completely enamored by the blissful melody of the skeletons' fluting. Then as he opened them, a gleam of sunlight greeted the azure of his orbs. And there he instantly knew that there was a spell in that fatal music which transported him into a strange realm.

Shifting his gaze, he saw the sun was now nearing the horizon. There was also a difference in its light, which was both brighter and mellower than the sun he had seen above Forks earlier that day; and the sky itself was intensely blue, with no hint of autumnal pallor.

It was a scene of such loveliness as he have never before beheld. The meadow-grass at his feet was softer and more lustrous than emerald velvet, and was full of violets and many-colored asphodels. The dark green of ilex-trees was mirrored in the golden river, and far away he saw the pale gleam of a great cairn on a low summit above the plain. All things bore the aspect of a mild and clement spring that was verging upon an opulent summer.

Though inured to things unnatural, he felt as if he had stepped into a land of classic myth, of ancient legends; and moment by moment, all surprise, all wonder as to how he could have come there, was drowned in a sense of ever-growing ecstasy before the utter, ineffable beauty of the landscape.

Nearby, in a laurel-grove, a white roof shone in the late rays of the sun. Naruto was drawn toward it by the same allurement of a moth on a flame, only far more potent and urgent. Here, He knew with an esoteric certainty, was the culmination of his quest, the reward of all his mad and perhaps impious curiosity, the fain of the being of whose assistance alone can save him from a fate worse than death.

As he entered the grove, he heard the sweet melody of a golden harp, of which strings were being gracefully plucked by slender hands; and its sweet symphony blended harmoniously with the low murmur of leaves in a soft, balmy wind.

In the heart of the grove, Naruto found an ancient ziggurat of black limestone. As he neared it, he once again beheld the three giant skeleton warriors that transported him in to the realm. They were waiting for him on the great edifice's portal. At the sight of the shinobi they bowed low and unctuously led him inside to a stunningly beautiful chamber.

Looking at the high ceiling above, he then saw a night sky full of shimmering stars that illuminated the great chamber along with the light of lamps wrought of intricately carven gold.

"Wow" Naruto muttered in amusement and wonder.

"Welcome Uzumaki Naruto of Konoha." A gentle voice said that severed Naruto's musings.

Looking forth, Naruto beheld a high throne of white marble, and the one sitting on it was a strange skeletal creature clothed as an ancient queen might have been in a flowing red gown and gold braided girdle, and wore on its cranium what looks like a head chain wrought of gleaming pearls that was beneath the crimson veil of a fiery setting sun.

"You know my name?" Naruto inquired.

"Yes" The goddess replied. "And your purpose too." She continued in a gentle and maternal voice as she described in the air an enigmatic sign with the fingers of her right hand.

In answer to the sign, two stars fell down from the night sky of the high roof and in to Naruto's hands. One of the stars became a scintillating crimson gem no bigger than a grain of rice while the other transformed in to a glimmering flawless diamond the size of a monkey's paw.

"Swallow the red gem. It shall send you in to a deep sleep for four moons, from which the hostile power within you will be harmonized." Kanash said as Naruto looked at the gemstones floating on the palm of his hand. "Take the white gem and give it to your beloved, as a gift from me." She then continued, smiling softly.

"Ok what's the catch?" Naruto said with furrowed brow. "I know for a fact that these sorts of things aren't free ya'know. There is always some price to pay." He then continued in a rather skeptical voice.

"I require nothing in return." Kanash replied, amused of the blonde. Despite the goddess's macabre appearance it would seem she is genuinely benevolent. "Though, it is well that you supplicated me when you did for I wouldn't be here for long."

To this Naruto gave the goddess a keen inquiring look. "What do you mean by that?" He then said in an incredulous tone demanding clarification for he was completely bewildered by the latter's statement.

"It means that I am nearing my end brave warrior." Kanash replied with the same benevolence in her voice.

"But aren't gods supposed to be immortal?" Naruto queried confusedly.

"The elder gods, the gods that were formed from the left over energies during the creation of the Earth, such as the ten-tailed beast you carry inside of you, are immortal through and through. However the later generations of gods have been created and sustained by the emotions, collective desires and worship of mortals. I, for one, was formed from the collective desires of prehistoric man to be protected from the dark for they have much feared the night." She then said that caught the attention of the shinobi. "I have been worshipped aforetime by bygone civilizations as a protector, and I have shielded them from the perils of the dark for they are my children. But my children have all but past on and I have been forgotten…and now the time has come for me to die."

To this Naruto felt sadness for the latter. He found it difficult if not impossible to think straight, temporarily losing the ability to vocalize words and assemble them in to speech, just standing where he stood with a blank stare.

"Do not be sad Naruto. I have lived for a long time and seen many things but there is an end to all, and I have accepted my fate long ago." Kanash said as she began to fade. She then rose from her throne and with her bony fingers gently touched Naruto's face, as if reassuring him that everything is ok. "There is one thing you could do for me as a favor. Live a happy life with all the people who love you. May fate always smile upon you brave warrior." She then smiled softly at the shinobi then melted away completely and died.

 **-End**

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 **Hey there folks!**

 **It has been a while since I updated. I hope you awesome people enjoyed reading.**

 **So yeah, I decided to add a little bit of Judeo-Christian element in the beginning of this chapter to add more dimension to the story. Hopefully, all the elements have been well incorporated and everything has transitioned well.**

 **Anyways, belated happy Halloween everyone!**

 **Cheerio :)**


	30. Chapter 30: Beyond Dreams and Reality

(Chronicles of the Toad Sage)

 _The following narrative was found amongst Jiraiya's scrolls on Mt. Miyuboku before he left for his mission to Amegakure, and eventually perished at the hands of Pein._

Man, ain't this a drag. I have an S class reconnaissance mission tomorrow but for some reason I can't explain, I'm having a problem focusing on such an important task. I have been having this strange notion of nostalgia, merged with some feeling of uneasiness.

So, in hopes of abating these conflicting emotions brewing inside me, I decided to grab my brush and write everything down in this scroll.

It all began years ago, and I wrote a book about it too, the 'Make out Paradise Series'. If you haven't read it, I suggest you get one, good stuff. Anyways, as I was saying, in one of my mission to track and apprehend a rogue sand ninja, I happened on a small town located between the borders of the Land of Fire and the Land of Air.

Perhaps because of the remoteness of the place, its inhabitants where simple and don't even know that a great war between the elemental nations has just ended, or even occurred. However, I got an intel that the said sand ninja, whose name is Ryoichi, was hiding deep within the thick forest surrounding this gray country.

Ryoichi is a dangerous shinobi. A prodigious poison master, as well as an accomplished puppeteer, he was wanted for attempting to assassinate the current Kazekage at the time. The Leaf, having just opened up diplomatic relations with the Sand, has offered to assist the latter hidden village in the capture of the wanted criminal.

And so it brings me back to this backwater of a mud hole. Don't get me wrong, the hot springs are great and the food aint to shabby either but the girls in this place…..they all look like forty years older than they actually are!

Or so I thought. One day, while walking on the sprawling bazaar at the center of town to gather intel about my target, I saw this stunningly gorgeous woman.

"Let's go Kaede…..I can't wait to try that stuff they call ramen." Said a younger girl to her as she jovially pulled her by the arm.

 _"So, her name is Kaede."_ I thought. I could have sworn having a wide monkey smile on my face at that very moment, thinking that it was my lucky day, as if I found a couple of gold nuggets in a sea of mud.

"Wait a minute Ishizu" Kaede replied ever so gently to her companion as she picked up her wicker basket.

Suddenly, my sight fell to one of the store keeper beside me; a gruff, disagreeable man with a really bad body odor, and whose lips was mumbling with maledictions as he gazed unkindly at those two cute girls.

"Abominations" He then said out loud, startling Kaede and Ishizu who was visibly hurt by the statement. "Get out of our town. We don't want the likes of you here!" He then continued, and though the rest of the town's people were silent, the horrid glares they gave those young ladies where of such prejudice that it conveyed their unspoken but palpable support to the odious man's statement.

Of course, I, Jiraiya the great toad sage, couldn't just watch and seat idly by with such injustice and when such cute girls are being mistreated so I stepped forward to confront him.

However, as I was about to punch the living daylights out of that annoying bastard, I felt a hand gently laid on my shoulder as if to tell me there is no such need. Then, as I looked over my shoulder, I saw that it was Kaede. With a face ever so gentle she thanked me politely and bowed, telling me in a sweet saccharine voice that it is alright, after which she silently walked away with Ishizu.

At that point, time seemed to slow down for me. Such kindness and beauty, those were the only things I could think of at the moment for all other things have become irrelevant. However, my musings were suddenly interrupted when I felt a weak ass punch in my face and heard the storekeeper's gruff voice cursing me for my interference.

"Who the hell are you!" He fulgurated while holding a particularly nasty cleaver in hand.

Of course the question provoked an irresistible urge for me to introduce myself so I quickly summoned one of my toads and subsequently somersaulted atop its back. "I am the great toad sage Jiraiya, perhaps you've heard of me?" I presented myself while in a glorious kabuki stance.

"Never heard….." The storekeeper said with a comically bewildered expression on his equally dreary face. "Ah, it's just some crazy guy, forget it. Ok people back to your shopping." He then said, seemingly losing all his steam while at the same time the spectators lost interest and went back to their previous preoccupations.

"Well that's a waste of a good intro." I sighed while the toad I summoned disappeared in a puff of white smoke, apparently embarrassed by the awkward hilarity of it all.

"Judging by that stunt you just pulled I reckon you must be one of them shinobis." Said a placid voice of an old geezer. Leaning back, I saw that it was the old proprietor of the inn I was staying.

"Hey old timer. How's it going?" I greeted nonchalantly.

"Oh you know, just getting some supplies for the inn's kitchen when I found you in all this ruckus." The old innkeeper replied amicably; however, suddenly a comedic expression of ache emanated on his face.

"You ok?" I asked as I saw the slightly funny constipated expression of my host.

"Ohhh my back." He groaned patting his backbone. "I suppose I'm getting a bit old for this." He supplemented.

"Do you need some help?" I inquired, concerned that the old geezer is about to bite the dust anytime soon. "Want me to take you to a doctor?"

"No worries, I'll be fine sonny. It's not really the first time this happened." The old man replied, reassuringly. "But if you don't mind young man, would it be alright if I could bother you to help me carry my groceries back to the inn.

"Sure thing. No problem." I said boisterously, about to pick up the old man's basket but suddenly heard him speak.

"I can take care of this one." He said, picking up the basket. "I need you to help me with those." He continued, pointing at the heap of foodstuff behind me.

"What! Are you feeding an army or something?" I expounded in both disbelief and annoyance, my eyes the size of dinner plates for the old geezer just used the oldest trick in the book to dupe me into carrying three sacksful of rice, five baskets of potatoes and carrots, a big crate of daikon and an entire cartload of watermelons.

"You seem like a strong boy. Im fairly certain you could take care of those." The dastardly old con-artist chuckled. "Come on, were gon'na be late for dinner." He then said as he walked ahead.

"Come on huh? That's easy for you to say" I grumbled inaudibly. Loading on my back all the crap that old geezer bought, and pulling the cart full of crappy watermelons like a mule I quickly kept phase with the swindling old man. "You better give me a free dinner for all of these." I then said with a frown on my face.

"Sure thing sonny boy" The innkeeper said jovially, giving me a thumbs up. Seemingly, all his back pain earlier suddenly disappeared now.

"Hey gramps" I then said, wanting to inquire the old man about something that has been bothering me as we walked on the cobblestoned street of that town.

"Something on your mind boy?" Said the old man with an inquisitively bewildered look on his wrinkled face.

"Yeah, I was wondering about those two cute girls earlier at the bazar." I started but was cut-off by my companion whose face suddenly assumed a melancholic and troubled expression.

"Better forget about them." He said in a voice that was no longer mellow but harsh, agitated, full of a sorrowful perturbation.

"But why?" I protested, my curiosity flared up like a great fire. The awful contemptible glares of the town folks earlier on those women and the grim expression of the innkeeper's face as I asked about them. There's something definitely amiss in here. "Besides, they're the only girls in this hell hole that doesn't have the face of a pig. " I then muttered inaudibly.

"It's for your own good, believe me." The old man replied coldly.

"I don't think there is any harm meeting beautiful women." I dared expostulate. "Is there?" I then continued, taking a good look at the expression on the old man's face.

"I forbid you to ask." The old man replied. His tone was one of great rigor, with a finality that dissuaded me from asking anymore questions. "Now, I'm gon'na make you katsudon for dinner tonight. Its kinda the house's specialty. Im sure you're going to love it." He smiled. The melancholy troubled look was replaced by his former benignity. He was again the mellow old man and the kindly jovial host.

It was evident however that the latter subject was not to be referred to again. Also, I can't complain that dinner wasn't good. It was quite appetizing to say the least. But his odd perturbation, the dark equivocal hints he had let fall, the vague terrific terms of his proscription has only served to awaken my curiosity and suspicion.

The next day I went back to the marketplace to continue my investigation. There I met a merchant from the land of Noodles named Kenta, who was also present the other day, during the entire hubbub. Though, unlike the villagers and other merchants the expression on his face was that of pity for those two girls.

Drawing the merchant in to converse by pretending to be interested on his wares then gradually shifting the conversation and diverting the topic to the fracas that happened the other day, I began to ask questions such as a curious stranger from a faraway land would ask.

"I reckon you're also not from here Sir." Kenta hypothesized as he wrapped the dried fish I bought.

"Well you got me." I said, smiling awkwardly, pretending to be a dumb tourist. "I'm just a writer traveling the world to find inspiration for my next book. "

"Ah, if inspiration you seek you won't find it here. The people in this town are backward and superstitious. There isn't really anything interesting to be found here." He continued in a gentle voice as he replenished his wares on display.

"On the contrary. " I said boisterously. "I think I already saw my inspiration the other day. There was this beautiful woman. It's a shame how the townsfolk treated her and that other girl." I then continued in doleful solemnity.

'It's a shame indeed." Kenta replied in a voice that has reflected both pity and rightful indignation. "The people here are simple and superstitious." He then expounded.

"What do you mean?" I curiously inquired.

"Those two girls are from a tribe called the Imaskari. They are a people who dwell on the high plateau of Mt. Imaskar. Kenta replied, pointing out to the mighty snowcapped mountain of which the town we were situated is on the base thereof. "From time to time they come down to town to trade medicines and potions for items that they can't procure on their locale…"He then continued but was cutoff

"You mean stuff they can't conjure with their sorcery!" Vocally expostulated by a villager who apparently overheard our conversation.

"See what I mean?" Kenta furtively said in a hushed voice. "The townsfolk always blame those poor chaps for everything yet when the going gets tough they turn to them for help. Aid is immediately granted to them by the Imaskari but as soon as the calamity passes they immediately forget who helped them and indeed even blame them as the culprits of the disaster." He then continued, shaking his head slowly in melancholy reproof.

"Because they are the culprits for such misfortunes!" A familiar voice said. Then looking behind my shoulder I saw that it was the old man from the inn. "You outsiders are so keen on criticizing us but you have no idea what the Imaskari really are! They are not people like you and me, they practice black and blasphemous sorceries in the high-plateau that always spill disaster to us who live on the base of the great mountain." He backlashed with an obvious severe odium in his voice that made Kenta momentarily taciturn.

"Nonsense ." I spoke boisterously after a moment of awkward silence. "I'm sure it's just a bunch of silly superstitions."

The indignation visibly rose in the face of the old innkeeper. "Suit yourself boy, but blame me not for the outcome." He then scowled before he walked away, having enough of the conversation and knowing that I was resolved to scaling Mt. Imaskar and in to the high plateau for the sake of satisfying my curiosity and maybe some of my perverted tendencies.

It goes without saying that I did what the old man feared on the very next day. The road was long and the terrain was difficult. Though a seasoned shinobi such as I don't have much issue trekking it, I could just imagine an ordinary person would've taken days threading on this unleveled ground that was muddy from the melting snow before he could get even close to his destination. Not to mention the dangers that lurks on the mysterious ever present thick fog blanketing the surrounding forest that acted like a natural maze which was so easy to get lost in to, never to be found.

I could just imagine Kaede and Ishizu travelling on this path, those poor gorgeous hot girls. Though also, a thought grazed my mind; If the two was able to traverse this unwelcoming terrain without any difficulties then the accusations of the villagers may have some credit after all for no ordinary human can cross this desolation unscathed, much less with his sanity intact.

My musings however got violently severed for I felt a speeding kunai heading my direction. With a resolved mind and fluid body movement I was effortlessly able to avoid it.

However, my eyes widened a little as I saw the said projectile wheezed mere inches from my body and then buried most of its length on a tree that was significantly distant from where I was. " _The markings in it…there's no mistake" I thought mirthlessly._ "…it's from the hidden sand." I murmured, while I scanned the perimeter for any vantage point where an attack could come at any time.

It wasn't long before a barrage of poison tipped senbons came raining in. They came in with mind boggling rapidity and like the kunai before them, buried half their length in to the ground or in to the trees from the sheer force of momentum as they traveled at above supersonic speeds.

Even with reflexes such that of mine, those things are hell lot difficult to avoid as they came to me by the thousands. Then, as I was evading the metallic rain of needles I saw something glimmer amidst the canopy of a great oak tree. _"A forehead protector. Gotcha_!" I thought to myself with a grin.

Quickly folding my hand in to seals, I gathered a large amount of chakra infused oil in my mouth. "Katon: Endan!" I exclaimed, shooting a series of flame bullets at my hidden opponent.

The oak tree was instantly razed as the extreme heat of the fire bullet incinerated it to cinders, living only ashes that were blown away by a passing breeze. However, as I peered at the charred remains of my would be assassin as it fell to the ground, I saw that it was a puppet; but not just any puppet. Perusing closer I saw the insignia of the Shirogane clan on the heat blackened construct of metal and wood.

"No one has evaded my attacks before. I suppose I should've expected anything less from one of the legendary Sannin." A voice echoed in the background, its owner had a sadistic rictus grin widening on his face.

"Ryoichi, I presume." I said composedly as I eyed a tall, pale masked man, who by the use of body flicker jutsu suddenly appeared in front of me. He has a long, platinum white hair and his sinister, predatory scarlet eyes peered back at me like that of a lone desert wolf.

"Well, didn't know you're actually a descendant of the Shirogane clan. A clan well known for their proficiency in making battle puppets, before their destruction." I said, engaging my opponent in a casual conversation to investigate further before the battle begun.

"My grandfather is one of the few who escaped our clan's destruction." Ryoichi began with a clenched fist. "With him, he brought scrolls containing our clan's secret jutsus, as well as weapon's research on battle puppetry. For years he and my father tried to perfect the ultimate weapon which we will use to bring the hidden sand to its knees. The very hidden village we have loyally served for generations but betrayed us in cold blood!" He then continued with great rage as he flicked his hands, engendering the chakra threads on his fingertips to undulate like strings of a harp that has been plucked by the slim hands of courtesans in the great hall of emperors.

Almost instantaneously the air around me distorted and mirage like images manifested themselves before my very eyes. "A genjutsu?" I muttered, building up the chakra in my core and releasing it back within my chakra circulatory system like a great surge that disrupted the illusionary spell gripping my mind.

However, as soon as I regained my volition I felt the ground below me slightly grumble, and knowing that my opponent had sprung the trap he has carefully laid earlier, I made haste to fold my hands in to a tiger seal and cast body flicker jutsu. The second sudden surge of chakra vitalized my body that allowed me to move at extremely high speeds to evade the gaping maw of one of Ryoichi's puppets that suddenly sprang below me.

Then, with a darting motion I quickly moved and formed a **Rasengan** in one hand. Forcefully smashing it to my opponent's chest; the force of which was great enough for the latter to be launched in to the air and crash back violently from tree to tree, in a downward ballistic trajectory.

I was quite sure that the **Rasengan** did the job. But my eyes nearly widened in both shock and astonishment as I looked in closer; the spinning ball of chakra has carved a crater in to Ryoichi's chest. However, instead of blood and flesh, the sand shinobi's body seemed to be made of some ashen material.

"What the hell." I mumbled silently as now, Ryoichi's injuries began to regenerate at an alarming rate. Then as he stood up I noticed that the sclera of his eyes had gone gray, along with a sudden change of personality, or lack thereof; as if he was being controlled by someone like the marionettes he wield in battle.

When I thought that I had my fair share of unpleasant surprises, the biggest and the nastiest of which descended upon me like lightning from a cloudless sky. "That exceedingly foul chakra…." I muttered to myself. "Show yourself Orochimaru. I know you're here!" I exclaimed in a thunder like roar, followed by a long silence that was seemed to be infrangible.

"An interesting jutsu isn't it…." Orochimaru said, breaking the silence with a twisted grin as he rose from the ground as if he is completely merged with the earth. "It's called **Edo Tensei** , a jutsu originally developed by the second Hokage, Tobirama Senju. It allows the user to summon the soul of the deceased from the afterlife, in this case Ryoichi of the sand, and bind it to a living vessel, restoring him as if when he's still alive. Though, at the moment, the justsu seem to have a minor flaw. The reincarnated soul is apparently nowhere near as powerful when they're still alive , as evidenced by you easily beating our friend over hear…..I have to get that fixed I suppose." He then continued, apparently quite absorbed in a methodical dissertation or self-monolog of his twisted experiment that he seemed to have, for a moment, forgotten about my presence.

"I didn't expect seeing you here." I sneered cynically at the pale bastard.

"Why, Jiraiya…I dint expect seeing you here as well, of all places." Orochimaru replied sardonically, the mordant grin on his face widened.

"It's you who plotted the assassination of the sand's Kazekage?" I inquired in a voice that has suddenly become grave and menacing.

"Not really, no." Orichimaru replied casually, never parting with that grin on his face. "It was all his idea, as a matter of fact. He underestimated the power of the Kazekage though, and didn't realize until it was too late that the latter's jutsu has injured him fatally. He's practically dead when I found him. Then I thought, there isn't a more opportune time to test the **Edo Tensei** than that particular moment."

"You're coming back to Konoha with me whether you like it or not." I then said, folding my hand in to a seal of confrontation, preparing myself for battle knowing that I have to use my full strength for a chance of barely pulling a pyric victory against a shinobi of Orochimaru's caliber.

"Do you really think you could defeat me old friend?" Orochimaru laughed menacingly and glared at me with those snake like eyes. "You're already dead Jiraiya" He then continued, pointing in to my right leg which, upon closer inspection, I saw a tiny needle piercing one of my pressure points.

"What? Impossible" I muttered to myself, knowing the fact that I wasn't able to feel the said needle piercing my skin means that Ryoichi has coated it in to some fast acting neurotoxin." Quickly, I draw blood from my index fingers and folded my hands in to seals prerequisite for summoning jutsu but to my surprise as my chakra seemed to fail all together.

"You'll be glad to know that though the reincarnation jutsu has weakened Ryoichi considerably, it didn't tarnish any of his skills as a poison master." Orochimaru grinned as he made a seal of confrontation, of which engendered a coffin to materialize from the ground and take Ryoichi's reincarnated corpse in to it. "And yes, the same poison disrupts your chakra which in turn prevents you from weaving any jutsus, in time it will kill you but for now you could suffer. I very much doubt that even you will survive but by any chance you ever make it alive Jiraiya, I will be glad to see you once again in the future." He then continued, as if bidding farewell in some twisted manner and in the same time seemed to be saddened on his own perverse way as he dissolved in to the air like a paper being consumed by fire in to nothingness.

"Wait!" I roared but my voice suddenly fell in to a whisper like reverberation, and as if on cue I felt a mortal weakness besetting me, as if ice-water was flowing in to my veins in lieu of blood. "This sucks." I muttered before my eyelids dropped from their heavy droopings and I succumbed to the stupor of a stygian embrace.

For minutes, hours, days…..I lay on that very spot, helpless; as I drifted between consciousness and oblivion. But all I could ponder off is what scheme my former friend and comrade was brewing. "What are you planning Orochimaru? Why are you in this part of the Elemental Nations, of all places?"

Then, on the third day, a most wonderful hallucination seemed to entrance my brain for I saw what I thought was a gorgeous angel…no…..goddess. Her face looks familiar; in it there was a mixture of gentleness and grace, of regal imperiousness and feminine yielding, and her silky golden-brown hair fell over from her neck and ears like a flowing river, that waved from the passing breeze which gently blew at it as she gracefully threaded the uneven terrain of that mountain landscape while carrying me in her arms.

"Is this what dying feels like? If so I wanted to feel like dying every single day." I said to myself, as from my poison numbed limbs I could still feel the exquisite voluptuous purity of line and contour of her body. Then, I had an Idea. Summoning all my strength to my right arm I then instinctively groped one of her boobs. It was soft and perky at the same time, and I didn't realize it then but it would seem that a lecherous monkey-smile widened in my face.

"You pervert!" I heard her shocked and at the same time outraged voice before I felt her clenched fist smashing in to my face.

"Strong girl….." I comically muttered in a barely audible voice before I was totally knocked out and drifted in to unconsciousness.

I felt floating in to a sea of oblivion for hours until I saw a light shimmering from a distance, I followed that light, and as I touched one of the pallid beams my senses raced back to consciousness.

Slowly, I opened my eyes. With fluttering and hazy vision, the first thing that caught my attention was an uncanny illumination above me. As my vision adjusted then normalized I saw that the source of that peculiar light was a floating globular device, unlike any I've ever seen. At that point I realized I was in some sort of room or medical ward.

Shifting my gaze I saw that I was being attended by yet another girl, though she is quite flat chested and frankly not to girlish physique-wise, she did have a pretty face that more than compensates for her…uhmm…physical deficiencies. Sneakily, I reached in and gave her some playful spank in the butt.

"What the….!" She exclaimed, startled and quite exasperated as well, seeing me groping her.

"Tatewaki what's happening their?" Said another girl who just entered. I recognized her, she's the one who rescued me, and strangely enough she's also that girl from the bazaar, Kaede.

"He's awake…." Tatewaki replied with a dry voice, while my hand was still clamped on her butt. "Would you get off me!" She then roared at me with a cruciform popping vain on her forehead, followed by a powerful kick to my chest.

"Tatewaki that's enough!" Said an old man who just entered the threshold of the door, he has a walking stick on one hand, and with him was that other girl Kaede was with in the bazaar, Ishizu. Can't you see that he had just recovered from sickness?" He reprimanded her in a voice of melancholy reproof. "Honored guest, I apologize for my apprentice's behavior." He then said in a gentle voice, bowing down humbly at me.

"No, that's quite alright. If anything I should thank you guys for saving my life." I then said bowing back at the old man. "But…..there's one thing I don't understand." I said, looking at Tatewaki curiously.

"What?" Tatewaki said in awkward discomfort.

"Tatewaki huh?" I muttered scratching the back of my head in contemplation. "Seems like a manly name for a pretty girl such as yourself." I then said out loud that made Kaede and Ishizu giggle, and even the old man can't help himself but let out a chuckle; though for some reason I noticed the fury rose on Tatewaki's face from an indignation I couldn't comprehend.

"That's because I'm a man!" Tatewaki fulgurated irately in a comical manner. Like that of a little boy who got teased beyond endurance. "Come here I'm gon'na beat you back to coma!" He then continued as the old man held him off. "Get off me master, I'm gon'na kill him!"

"Ok, calm down my boy…let's go outside….." The old man said, dragging his apprentice outside while still chuckling due to amusement from my prior comment.

"Wow, never seen him got so upset like that before." Ishizu commented ponderingly.

"He's always hot headed but he's going to be a good healer one day. He worked night and day to save you from the poison." Kaede said to me, with a gentle smile on her face. "Though, to be fair it's kinda you're fault he's a bit upset." She then continued in the same kindly manner, gently handing me a bowl of berries. "You must be famished from being asleep for nearly seven days."

"Seven days?" I echoed in both wonderment and disbelief.

"Yup. We thought you're not going to wake up." Ishizu supplemented, as she poured some milk on a nearby cup for me.

"Thanks." I said in a hollow voice, reaching for the cup and quickly draining its content. "Orochimaru!" I exclaimed. Suddenly recalling our confrontation, I then sprang erect with intentions of apprehending him. But as soon as I stood up I felt a crippling weakness on my legs coupled by a nauseating vertigo.

"Be careful." Kaede said as she caught me from falling flat on my face. "You're still weak from the poison, at least rest for a couple more days until you regain sufficient strength. You are in a safe place, I promise…." She then continued in reassurance. Her voice, however, suddenly fell in to awkward silence as she noticed my face stuck in the middle of her cleavage.

"So soft and perky" I mumbled with a mischievous smile on my face as I basked in heavenly splendor.

"Pervert!" Kaede exclaimed in irritation, followed by another one of her bone crushing punch.

 _"Yup, you and Tsunade will get along just fine."_ I thought as I crashed in to the wall and back to my bed from the sheer impetus of the strike.

"Oh, I guess that's what it means when someone swing both ways." Ishizu chuckled a bit in amusement while Kaede on the other hand was obviously vexed. "You ok Mr. Pervert?" She then inquired playfully.

"Hey look here little girl! I don't swing both ways." I remonstrated in an aggravated roar. "Don't call me a pervert you little punk. My name is Jiraiya, the toad sage, maybe you've heard of me?"

"Okay, Mr. Jiraiya the pervert?" Ishizu teased a bit while Kaede just stood in there with folded arms in silent ire.

"I thought I told you not to call me a pervert little girl…" I replied with a comical expression of annoyance in my face, though I wasn't able to finish my sentence as Ishizu made a strange gesture.

"Night, night Mr. Pervert" She then said, followed by an utterance of a set of words in a language I couldn't understand.

As if in answer to those words I noticed a sudden moment of brilliance from that orb hovering above the room, followed by a coruscating web of intricate colors that radiated as intense beams. Suddenly, I felt the instinctive desire to sleep and to close my eyes, and I did, and I fell deep asleep, dreaming the most beautiful dreams I ever had.

The next day I woke up feeling ever more refreshed and energized. I sprang up from my bed and decided to take a morning stroll; wanting to know more about my mysterious hosts. Passing through the threshold of my dwelling I saw that the entire village was constructed on a plateau high up Mt. Imaskar.

"Oh, you're awake" I heard a familiar voice. It was the old man from yesterday. "I hope you're feeling much better now." He then continued in a soft spoken but sagacious tone.

"Yes, I'm definitely feeling much better Mr…." I replied, stretching my limbs; Purposely not finishing the sentence as if silently asking the name of the kindly old man in front of me.

"Oh, where are my manners. I am Genjuro, apothecary and herbalist of this humble settlement." He then replied, bowing slightly as he introduced himself.

"My name is Jiraiya. It's a pleasure to meet you." I then replied with an extended arm of friendship.

"A pleasure to meet you too Jiraiya." Genjuro said as he shook my hand "On behalf of my people I bid you welcome to our village."

Then at that point Kaede also showed up. "Master, I have gathered the forest herbs you requested." She said to the old man.

"Oh, good. Thank you Kaede, please just put them there" Genjuro replied in a soft spoken tone, befitting that of a learned scholar.

"Let me help you carry those." I offered politely.

"No thank you." Kaede scoffed at me and was about to walk off.

"Oh, come on! It was an accident." I explained in an awkward voice, fidgeting instinctively as I spoke.

"And how about that other 'accident' a few days ago?" She countered with crossed arms and with a raised brow, pertaining to that incident when I groped her breast while she carried me back to her village.

I scratched my nose, not being able to think of a proper reply or at least facilitate a believable lie so at the end I just told the whole unfiltered truth. "I was dying back then. I thought it was a good idea." I shrugged.

"Unbelievable!" She gritted her teeth and was about to walk out when the old man spoke.

"Hmmm….I might be wrong but I think this is the beginning of young love." He then said with his hand on his chin like that of a person who thinks aloud.

"Master!" Kaede expostulated strongly.

"Now, now Kaede. This young man has apologized and is offering to make up for his past mistake. It is not our way to be impolite." Genjuro replied with a sagacious finality in his words that left his apprentice without any trace of remonstration.

"As you wish" Kaede said obediently as her master went back inside the building. "And you…" She then continued, shifting her gaze to me.

"Me?" I inquired innocently.

"Yeah, you." Kaede said, amused. "If you really want to help come with me." She then continued, putting aside the wicker basket full of herbs and grabbing two new ones, one for her and one for me.

"Where are we going?" I inquired once more.

"We're going to get some breakfast." She smiled.

The sun has not yet risen when we made our way. The thick fog of the highlands enveloped almost everything and it's quite difficult to see if it weren't for these curious devices illuminating the thoroughfare where we threaded. They looked like ten foot tall curving monoliths, each of which seemed to be fashioned from glimmering obsidian. On its surface were glyphs and runes from an unknown language, and atop these peculiar sarsens were crystalline apparatuses that gave of a cold white light, in a similar fashion to that of lamp posts powered neither by chakra nor electricity but some esoteric means, of which only the Imaskari knew the secret.

Soon we reached a conical tower which I presumed to be a food store house of some sort. It was wrought mostly of white marble though there's an organic look in to it for lustrous metals and living wood were somehow fused to the stone as if the entire thing wasn't built but grown.

To my further curiosity when Kaede opened the thick brazen door of the edifice and a warm bright light greeted us. Entering, I was dumbfounded to see that the inside of the structure was far larger than that of the outside for there must be at least three acres radius worth of space in here. Being a logical man I first thought that these people might have mastered and utilized some form of space-time ninjutsu that allows them to manipulate hypergeometric space to achieve such thaumaturgy, creating a garden inside an odd looking tower where delectable berries, luxuriant vegetables and exotic fruits grew in much abundance.

Looking up at the high curving ceiling, I saw that it was covered with azure and lapis lazuli, and on the centermost of the structure was the source of the radiant light I beheld earlier when my beautiful companion opened the door; it was a fiery globe that hung in midair, emitting the radiant but strangely gentle beams which illuminated everything.

I regarded this miniature sun with awe for its very purveyance was a mystery to me. Later on Kaede told me that this wonder was fashioned by her people hundreds of years ago using their arcane arts and levitated to the roof without any palpable support via the same mystical power.

Even in the bleak climate of the high plateau, the orb yielded genial warmth that made the gardens below flourish, lush and exuberant. And indeed the growth of those gardens were such as no terrestrial sun could have fostered, for the enchanted light radiated by the orb has made the produce swell in unearthly size, puissant savor and mesmeric succulence.

"Are you ok Jiraiya?" Kaede inquired out of concern in the gentlest voice of riveting purity.

"What?" I yammered, dazed due to being severed from my musings. Her deep blue sapphire eyes glimmered in to a dazzling iridescence under that curious light; and gazing upon them feels like being removed from the mundane existence and be set adrift in to a sea of astral splendour and soul pacifying equanimity.

"I said, are you ok?" Kaede smiled, amused. "You've been staring at the ceiling for the last fifteen minutes." She then continued, her basket was already full of lettuce, some squash and blackcurrants.

"Oh…that...that long?" I stammered some more distracted not only by her beauty that defies the definition of aesthetic perfection but also by the pure kindness of her heart.

I suppose at that very moment I fell in love with her. Of course I'll tell you all of the details regarding it, along with others of my exciting adventures on my next book. Though to tell you the truth, I have been a friend of the Imaskari and a regular visitor to the village atop the high-plateau ever since that day. I even brought Naruto there once; that scaredy-cat felt so edgy, believing the ghost stories of some superstitious cutters we met on the way but felt as he's in paradise when he saw the refreshingly gorgeous ladies of the high plateau. The little pervert didn't waste time and immediately set up to peep on one of the village's bathhouses too.…and oh yeah, I was with him when he did all that stuff.

When this mission is over I'm planning to talk to Tsunade. I hope she'll allow me to retire and spend the rest of my days in the high-plateau with my wife Kaede, whom I married just six months ago, and be a father to the child inside her belly...our child.

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"If you're really a Hyuga then show us your **Byakugan**." Jeered a boy along with his group of bullies that caught the attention of Naruto.

"But if you're not gon'na then don't look at us."

"Yeah, your eyes are creepy." The other boys supplemented.

Quickly, Naruto stood up from the swing and perused what's happening; and saw how the three boys tormented a little girl from the Hyuga clan. For some reason Naruto knew this girl but couldn't remember her name.

"I bet you're some kind of monster are you?" The first boy said in a venomous snide while his two other companions laughed derisively; this was too much for the little girl, visibly hurt by the painful statements she began to cry.

Consequently, this was the last draw for Naruto as well. "Hey cut it out!" He exclaimed as he charged towards the direction of the bullies.

"Who the hell are you?" Inquired a mean looking boy who was evidently the leader of the group.

"I am Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm the future Hokage!" Naruto declared with thunderous resolve.

"Oh the future Hokage huh?" Said by one of the boys in a mocking tone.

"What are you, an idiot?" Chortled the other one.

"I'll show you guys!" Naruto exclaimed with eyes narrowed on the three, concomitantly forming his hand in to a seal. " **Shadow Clone Jutsu**!" He then fulgurated. Subsequently, puffs of smoke burst in front of him which filled the group of bullies with trepidation that slowly spread from their spine to their toes.

However, as the smoke clears up, the intense fear and foreboding the three felt early on quickly transformed itself in to uncontrollable mocking merriment as two tiny clones manifested in answer to Naruto's jutsu.

Dumbfounded and profoundly embarrassed by the failed attempt to teach the tormentors a lesson, Naruto could only stare blankly at the miniature clones that it was too late when he noticed that the clenched fist of one of the boys was speeding towards his face.

The punch knocked the blonde right out and darkness completely embraced the shinobi's senses for he didn't know how long.

Azure eyes slowly opened. With fluttering and hazy vision Naruto saw the girl from earlier worriedly stooping at him, hoping he's ok. "What happened? Where are they!" He quickly sprang erect with a battle ready stance.

"Uhm…they're gone." The girl said diffidently in a soft voice. "I….I…." She then muttered but seemed too shy to continue, having developed quite a crush on the blonde-blue eyed boy in front of her.

"Huh?..." Naruto responded cluelessly, looking back at that strange girl whose cheeks are now blushing red like a tomato.

"Thank you" The Hyuga girl said bowing at him as she thanked the blonde for standing up for her earlier.

"No worries." Naruto smiled amicably. "My name is Naruto…what's yours?" He then said with an extended arm of friendship.

"It's Hinata…." The girl said in a voice that was timid but reflected her gladness to meet a new friend as she also extended her hand.

However, before they're hands meet everything turned black as if the sun was swallowed by some unnamable cosmic horror. Then with sanity blasting rapidity the shinobi felt that an unseen ruinous power forcibly rip him from that restful illusion and flung his consciousness in to the deepest abysses of the outer hells.

"Hinata!" Naruto exclaimed as he fell in to a boundless sea of typhonic shadows and dead dreams. His thoughts and feelings were unutterably confused, and half the time it seemed to him that he was falling upward rather than downward, or was sliding horizontally or at some oblique angle. Anon, he had the sensation of turning a complete somersault; and then he found himself laying on a soft but solid ground, without the least shock or jar of impact. The darkness cleared away and as he opened his eyes once more he found himself in a lofty bed.

Scanning his surroundings he saw the wall of black limestone frescoed with delicately cut precious and semi-precious stones that has been arranged together so exquisitely in to a magnificent mural. Then at that point he realized that he's in one of the chambers inside the temple of Kanash.

Perusing further he went in to the high balcony of the chamber overlooking the outside landscape surrounding the great fane. However, he noticed that the green foliage has strangely faded now, and the ever summer light of that realm has darkened to that of a sun approaching a harsh and long winter.

"We are glad you are awake." Three voices said in a synchronized monotonous cadence that startled the shinobi from his glum musings and made him look guardedly to the voices origin, only to see that its Kanash's servitors who brought him in to that exotic realm at his request.

"Oh, it's you guys." Naruto muttered, looking at the gaunt skeletal warriors in front of him. "How long am I out?" He then inquired, remembering that he indeed needed to sleep for so long in order for the goddess's gift to abate the rampaging shard of Errealth inside of him; with this he also felt a strange sensation. As if pure liquefied energy is flowing from his veins instead of blood; a whole range of new senses had been opened up in him, together with corresponding thought-symbols for which there are no words in human speech as he felt Alex's divine power completely merged with his chakra that made every atom of his body undergo a transcendental expansion.

A singular thought then suddenly severed him from all the exaltation. "I have been asleep for four months?" He muttered loud enough for the skeletons to hear.

"Yes. You have slumbered in this chamber for four moons master." They replied in concurrence. "We knew you are worried of what came of your family and love ones in Forks." They then continued.

"How did you know about that?" Naruto inquired with a bit of confusion and apprehension at the expression of his face.

In response the skeletal warriors pointed the blonde in to an adjacent chamber where inside, amid the pavement of titanic blocks, there was a circular pit, above which seemed to float a fountain of flame that soared in one perpetual, slowly lengthening jet. This flame was the sole illumination of the room, and also, was the source of the wild rhythm of shadows that danced to its ebbing and flowing.

"What's in there?" The blonde queried once again.

"The answer you seek." The three replied succinctly in unison.

Silently, Naruto walked in to the threshold of the other chamber and looked in to the fountain of flame, of which color issued interchangeably forever in iridescent hues. There was no sensation of actual heat, such as might have been expected when he neared the soaring column. Instead, he felt the most ineffable thrilling in all his fibers, as if he was being permeated by waves of celestial energy.

Shortly, upon gazing on to the flames he saw a vision of Forks. He saw a standoff between the Volturi and his family over the accusation of the latter that the Cullens have created an abomination; an immortal child in the form of Renesmee that could expose their kind to the humans and unravel the delicate balance between the mortal and immortal worlds.

But to much of the shinobi's relief when he saw that Leah wasn't part of the belligerents as both Jake and Sam forbidden the latter to participate on what would be a bloody fight due to her condition.

"What is your wish, Uzumaki Naruto?" One of the skeletons, who apparently held the most senior position of the three, inquired in a voice that sounded like wind passing through sheaths of fretted ivory.

"I want to go home." Naruto said in a gentle voice that reflected his resolve.

"As you wish." The skeletons once again spoke in unison as each draw from the folds of his robe a magical silver flute of which music would form the pathway, transporting a soul to where his heart wants to go.

However, before the skeletons were able to play their flutes Naruto spoke. "Hey hold on!" He said, looking at the three. "I forgot to ask your names." He then continued with an amicable smile on his face.

"My name is Valaris." The most senior of the skeleton spoke first.

"I am Antaeus" The second followed.

"And I am Thurzadar." The third then introduced himself.

"We, who were the warrior kings of the lost continent of Atlantis has pledged our service to the goddess Kanash, and we shall perform her final will. That is to guard you, Uzumaki Naruto, from all perils while you sleep and safely guide you to the mortal realm once you awaken." They then said once again in perfect unison. In their voice reflected their unbending zeal to their ancient oath.

"Well, thanks you guys." The shinobi smiled once more.

In reciprocation the ancient warrior kings bowed low to the shinobi then began to play their flutes of which spell laden music was demiurgic ecstasy.

Suddenly the flame enfolded Naruto like a green curtain, blotting from view the great chamber. Then it seemed to him that he was caught and carried to supercelestial heights, in an upward-rushing cataract of quintessential force and deific rapture, and an all-illuminating light.

For a brief moment he felt that as if he no longer existed, except as one divine, indivisible entity, soaring beyond the trammels of matter, beyond the limits of time and space, to attain undreamable shores. Unspeakable was the joy, and infinite the freedom of that ascent, in which he seemed to overpass the zenith of the highest star. Then, as if he had risen from the surge of its final culmination and reached its very apex, he emerged and the music came to a pause.

With eyes temporarily blinded by the glory of ineffable rapture he began to perceive familiar forms and later on the images became more vivid. At that point Naruto realized that he was standing in a glade, deep within the great forests surrounding Forks, where he conducted the conjuration four months prior.

With a foreboding sense of urgency that was sharper than the thrust of a sword, Naruto's azure eyes transformed to faintly glowing purple-rippled orbs; and on his forehead opened his **Rinne Sharingan** that was formerly sealed by the demigod during their confrontation on Isle Esme.

Using the power of his **Dojutsu** , Naruto cast **Yomotsu Hirasaka** , opening a rift within the fabric of space-time to instantaneously transport himself to the exact location where the Cullen's, the wolves and the Volturi are having their standoff.

He knew that he could've done this sooner and transported himself back to the mortal plane using this very method if he wished. However, he was also aware that Kanash's realm will soon be no more and wanted, for the last time, to hear the rapturous spell laden music of those archaic silver flutes.

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(Deposition of the Chaos God)

"Verily, so many things happened in such so little time. But I suppose we should begin at the very start of it all."

"Oh, where are my manners? Let me introduce myself to you. I am the outer-god Nyarlathotep, the crawling chaos to those few who know me. I am the lord of madness, chaos and many other things that may pique your interest."

"Observe, this dreary and unappealing ball of water and rock is called the planet Earth, the so called prized domain of my dear nephew…well, late nephew. It is the home world of a yet more contemptible and aberrant form of life, a race of unclean and corrupt weaklings called the humans. Why they were so loved by Errealth above the totality of the quadrillions of other life forms in the universe is beyond me, nor do I have the inclination to waste my time finding out. "

"What's so special about the humans you ask? Meh beats me. They are made of dirt…..I saw them made. I was there when they were just drooling apes….well, come to think of it, they still are. I was there when the Morning Star lifted them from the dirt and gave them the gift of free will. A gift they never deserved."

"And my dear nephew thinks that these humans would someday be equal to us Outer Gods, perhaps even greater. Baaahhh! Errealth may possess infinite raw power but he is a fool, to even compare these lowly creatures to us. They are a museum of disease, a home of impurities; they come today and are gone tomorrow; they begun as dirt and departs as stench. We are the aristocracy of the imperishables, the suzerains of all creation, and we are nothing like these worthless animals. You understand? That would seem to be difference enough between them and us, all by itself."

"Their feeble little gods are no better as well. Greedy, selfish and weak beings the gods of Earth are, with their petty, human connections, their little vanities and cowardice; their pathetic cravings for praise and worship, and their demand for faith contrary to nature and reason…how pathetic….and that is why this planet must be scoured of life, both mortal and divine."

"In the past, I have tried to convince Errealth to abandon these creatures and incinerate their world, but he didn't listen, he wouldn't listen….so I have to show him the error of his ways."

"With my own essence I have modified a certain highland dwelling tribe of humans called the Imaskari to be stronger, smarter and superior to their kin in every possible aspect. In short, I made them the perfect army engineered to extinguish the lives of every man, woman and child; spilling endless rivers of blood, secretly in my name of course, until the earth turns red from the glorious cornucopia of slaughter."

"Something, however, went wrong. In lieu of blood-lusted warriors that I originally intended them to be, the Imaskari became peaceful scholars, alchemists and mysteriarchs obsessed with the study of magic, science, and the inner workings of the Earth."

"How this happened, I know not. Though I have a feeling Yog-Sothoth has his filthy tentacles all over this ill-fated divergence. Nonetheless, this was just a minor setback."

"Centuries have past, and as expected, the humans began to wage war with each other to compete for land and resources, honor and greed, love and vengeance, among many other petty things"

"And while the rest of the Imaskari preferred to live in seclusion and isolation in the high plateau between the borders of what would be known as the Land of Fire and the Land of Air during the age of the shinobi; a certain strong willed member of the tribe, stood out of her peers for she is irrevocably attracted to power, and has an interesting penchant of gaining more of it. Her name is Kaguya, and she believed that she could heal the world by obtaining supreme power."

"From her, I saw a window of opportunity to advance my plans. One night, I appeared to Kaguya in a dream and told her about the slumbering one-eyed god called the Juubi, who have lain dormant for eons in the form of a divine tree. I've conveyed to her its location and that she could gain the power of the elder earth-bound deity by eating the fruit of the divine tree."

"I told her to abandon her cloistered ilk and their worthless pacifistic beliefs in exchange for power beyond imagining. This she did; and may I add that it was so easy to manipulate her in to doing so. She descended from the high plateau and sought out the Juubi then ate the chakra fruit. Needless to say, she gained the power she thirsted so much for and stopped all the warring factions of humanity all by herself. For a while there was peace, but as you might have guessed, the power of the Juubi slowly consumed her mind and she became paranoid…paranoid but powerful. Delicious isn't it?"

"If everything went according to plan, she will destroy the rest of the humans for me, and in consequence, Errealth will destroy her in retribution for the death of the species he has so much nurtured and cared for. And I would only need to seat comfortably here on my throne and watch all the drama unfold."

"Again, however, before my plan could properly come together an unexpected twist of fate came to ruin my day. Kaguya's sons, Hagoromo and Homura rebelled against their mother and was able to defeat and seal her."

"At first, I thought that my plans have failed altogether but as fate would have it, it would seem that my luck has just turned out for Hagoromo began to share the power of chakra to his followers in hopes of creating a unified people living in harmony. United through chakra, he thought that wars and conflicts could be avoided for each and every human will be able to understand each other through an empathic link connecting them to each other. He has no idea how wrong he is. Eventually, wars raged even more violently and far more destructive for man has now weaponized chakra, the very tool Hagoromo thought would unify humankind."

"The humans, they've used chakra to bridge their inner physical and spiritual energies together instead of each other, the result of this is jutsu; and through it they were able to perform supernatural feats such as breathing fire, shaping water in to projectiles and channeling lightning in to lethal cutting blades, among many other paltry tricks that is too numerous to mention in a reasonable amount of time. Well, to make things short; through their new found abilities, the humans began to consider themselves new gods answerable only to themselves."

"They have a saying actually…..pride cometh before a fall. And that exactly what happened next. The power of chakra has brought human beings overwhelming arrogance. And at this time, two prominent ninja clans warred with each other, the Uchiha and Senju. Both were descended from Hagoromo's sons who became bitter enemies, and their hate was passed on to their progenies."

"Well, without delving too much in family politics lets continue the story. It was in the fourth great shinobi war that the Juubi was released once more. Infuriated from being used it rampaged and killed everyone in sight. It was until a squadron of shinobi led by Uzumaki Naruto battled the beast and subsequently sealed it."

"Uzumaki Naruto, how I hated that name. I knew at first glance that blonde monkey is gon'na be a problem. Anyways, the Juubi was sealed but at a great cost for non but Naruto himself survived and was left in a cataleptic state by the process of sealing the one eyed god in his own body."

"Years have passed and another great shinobi war erupted. This time it's between the survivors of a most virulent plague fighting for resources that has been scarce at that point of time. I haven't told you about the plague earlier, did I?"

"It has almost been ten millennia since the last great plague has almost wiped human kind. It was a plague so dangerous, a threat so grave, that it spread throughout every corner of the elemental nations almost effortlessly to infest everyone on its wake. It spread its pestilence on every known civilization, devastating their denizens."

"It was an interesting epidemic you see, for it attacks the chakra circulatory system of the infected; causing the chakra inside their own bodies to turn their flesh in to icy stone…..Oh yes, and one more thing, the plague is a wonderful creation of yours truly. Sublime isn't it?"

"I was also the one who influenced Hinata Hyuga and Gaara, both the respective Kages of their villages to annihilate the Imaskari of the high plateau for I discerned that the latter will call upon Errealth to defend them…and, knowing my dear nephew, I knew that he is less than pleased of what the humans had become and will most likely wipe the planet clean of life with a single flick of his wrist."

"Ahhhh the good old days. I could clearly remember how the shepherd struck his own flock; and how the great defender of mankind turned upon them and sunk the elemental nations under the unforgiving sea. Up in the cosmos isn't too bad of a sight either for the shinobi of the moon was also not spared, and was atomized by the morning star's divine wrath."

"However, to my surprise when Errealth spared some of them along with Naruto himself. I tried to convince him to destroy his failed creations but to no avail. He merely made sure to dampen the chakra of each succeeding generation in order to return the humans in to their 'pure and uncorrupt state', as he calls it. He even went so far as to keep me and the other Great Old Ones and Earth Bound Gods off the fence to make certain that we wouldn't intervene with the evolution of mankind."

"This was the last draw. At that very moment I've decided to kill him for this impertinence. Though I have to be extremely careful of course, for if my plans were to be uncovered I will surely be destroyed. And indeed, my thirst for vendetta would bear fruit ten thousand years later, when I mislead Uzumaki Naruto to kill Errealth, which he was far more than compliant to do and far too dumb to realize that he was being played like a puppet all along."

"Interestingly, the human boy Errealth inhabited as his earthly avatar was a direct descendant of the Imaskari, and indeed possesses a particularly strong atavism of his divine lineage. And now let me guess, you're going to google what an atavism is, aren't you. No? Deny it if you must but remember that I am the god of chaos and insanity, and I am inside your head."

"Well in anyways, if you don't know what it means then let me explain it to you. Like I told you earlier, the Imaskari are my mortal descendants. Once every one thousand years, a child is born among them with exceptional gifts. Ordinarily, my divine essence is rendered a recessive trait on my mortal progenies until the code can express itself in a descendant strong enough to succeed it, effectively making him a demi outer-god by both birth right and power."

"Unfortunately, Errealth took my son under his wing and made him his earthly avatar in hopes that one day he would help Naruto safeguard the human race. Foolish isn't it?"

"When Errealth died, it was just a piece of cake to manipulate Alex in to succumbing to hate and turning his heart in to a vat of seething venom. And I was able to transform him in to a weapon that the Imaskari were meant to be. But again faith is such a hard woman to love for the demigod betrayed me. I taught him symbols and words of power that could bring down the barrier between worlds and release me and The Others from our astral prison but he used that knowledge to repair Errealth's barrier, utilizing the hope of each and every human being as its new power source."

"Ungrateful runt, he could've ruled beside my throne as a prince but the fool chose to die for the humans who treated him like yesterday's garbage. What an idiot."

"No matter, my plans for humanity may have been postponed for the moment being but otherwise still very much intact. For you see, Alex isn't my only mortal descendant. There is another one which I could use as an instrument of my vendetta. Furthermore, my influence among the humans has never been stronger in ten thousand years; and sooner rather than later, their hope will dwindle like a feeble flame blown away by the harsh gusts of a tempest, and the barrier that protected them from my wrath since time immemorial shall crumble and fall once and for all."

"When such time comes, I the god Nyarlathotep, will very much enjoy rending their sanities piece by piece before I call upon the rest of the outer-gods to turn their collective gaze on Earth, which will leave it a shattered world, ushering in a glorious age of darkness, aberration, and utter insane evil where all vestige of sanity has been wiped out; and all creatures, great and small, shall sing, dance, and slaughter each other in an ecstasy of chaos and madness."

 **\- End**

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 **Hey there folks!**

 **I hope you enjoyed reading! Wow, it has been a while since I updated the story. Sorry about that, I was quite busy this past 6 months with school. Luckily I was able to get some break and finish this chapter.**

 **You may notice that 2 segments of this chapter was written in first person point of view rather than the third person or story teller's point of view as I'm currently experimenting with the former writing style I hope everything went on smoothly. Also, may look like a filler but it's actually is quite special. On the previous chapters I've placed some clues and this particular chapter is the nexus of those said clues. If you were able to piece together all parts of the puzzle, congrats to you, well done!**

 **See you awesome people next chapter! Cheerio** **J**


	31. Chapter 31: Whisperers in the Dark

Minutes turned to hours; hours in to days; and days in to months. Four months to be exact. It's how long Naruto was gone. And in that interim many things has occurred in quick succession like a row of bricks knocking each other out as the first one falls to the other.

Lucius, the Volturi spy, has reported to his masters that the shinobi is now gone, mutually destroyed along with the demigod during their calamitous confrontation that incinerated half a continent, left millions of people dead and millions more permanently damaged. Most unfortunately, just minutes after he made the account, Irina of the Denali Coven came to testify the existence of an immortal child under the Cullens' care, and most likely created by them as well.

This unfortunate series of events has prompted both an alarm to the Volturi and gave them, especially Caius, a reason to destroy the Olympic coven once and for all; the only coven in the entirety of the vampire world who poses a threat to their sovereignty.

For years the dominant coven has been extraordinarily clement, and at times ingratiating, to what they consider as the lesser flock of peculiar vampires out of fear of the shinobi's wrath and the absolute annihilation that comes with it.

However, the elimination of Naruto in the equation has drastically changed the equilibrium of power back to their favor. This, along with the much needed leverage that came as the incriminating account of a forbidden child immortal has presented them with an irresistibly rare opportunity that by all logical reason should be taken advantage of to secure the iron grip of uncontestable supremacy on the vampiric hegemony.

But, not without merit, Alice was able to foresaw the events weeks before it unfold. Warning her family of the impending calamity they took all measures to prepare for it, gathering witnesses of their own and petitioning the help of the Quileute shape shifters to bolster their ranks if worse came to worst.

Some covens and individual vampires also started coming to Forks to side with them against the powerful coven. Amongst who came is Alistair, a nomadic vampire who Carlisle and Naruto knew in the past; then there is the Amazon Coven, comprised of Kachiri, Senna and Zafrina, the latter of which possesses the gift to project vivid illusions on the minds of others; Stefan and Vladimir of the Romanian coven also came, seizing the unfolding events as the perfect opportunity to take revenge against the Volturi.

The Cullen's also tried to recruit Lestat and Armand for added firepower but it would seem that the two can't be located, as if they have just evanesced without a trace in to some cloistered realm that not even Alice could locate them with her clairvoyant gift. Stranger still, Jane and Alec seemed to have also vanished in the same manner which greatly infuriated Aro and reduced the Volturi's strength by some margin but in no way weakening them significantly for the Cullen's and their allies to hold the advantage.

And so, in a wide opening, deep within the forest of forks the belligerents met. There was a strange but perfectly comprehensible chillness in the air as the opposing immortals faced each other and Renesmee was presented to the vampire lords for the first time.

Aro spoke first, breaking the silence. "It will be a regrettable waste to our kind to lose any of you. But you especially, young Edward, and your newborn mate. The Volturi would be glad to welcome many of you into our ranks. Bella, Benjamin, Zafrina, Kate. There are many choices before you. Consider them." He then said while Chelsea attempted to sway them with her gifts but was impotent against Bella's shield.

Aro's gaze swept across the other vampire's eyes, looking for any indication of hesitation though it would seem the he found none judging from the expression on his face.

Bella knew he was desperate to keep Edward and her, to imprison them the way he had hoped to enslave Alice. But this fight was too big. He would not win if she lived.

"Let us vote, then," Aro said with apparent reluctance.

Caius spoke with eager haste. "The child is an unknown quantity. There is no reason to allow such a risk to exist. It must be destroyed, along with all who protect it." He smiled in expectation.

Bella scowled as she fought back a hiss of defiance to answer the latter's cruel smirk.

Marcus lifted his uncaring eyes, seeming to look through Renesmee as he voted. "I see no immediate danger. The child is safe enough for now. We can always reevaluate later. Let us leave in peace." His voice was even fainter than his brothers' feathery sighs.

None of the guard relaxed their ready positions at his disagreeing words. Caius's anticipatory grin did not falter. It was as if Marcus hadn't spoken at all.

"I must make the deciding vote, it seems," Aro mused.

Suddenly, Edward stiffened. "Yes!" he hissed.

Bella risked a glance at her husband. His face glowed with an expression of triumph that she didn't understand—it was the expression an angel of destruction might wear while the world burned. Beautiful and terrifying.

To this, there was a low reaction from the guard, an uneasy murmur.

"Aro?" Edward called, nearly shouted, undisguised victory in his voice.

Aro hesitated for a second, assessing this new mood warily before he answered. "Yes, Edward? You have something further… ?"

"Perhaps," Edward said pleasantly, controlling his unexplained excitement. "First, if I could clarify one point?"

"Certainly," Aro said, raising his eyebrows, nothing now but polite interest in his tone.

Bella's teeth ground together for she knew that Aro was never more dangerous than when he was gracious.

"The danger you foresee from my daughter….this stems entirely from our inability to guess how she will develop? That is the crux of the matter?" Edward started

"Yes, friend Edward," Aro agreed. "If we could but be positive… be sure that, as she grows, she will be able to stay concealed from the human world…not endanger the safety of our obscurity . . ." He trailed off, shrugging.

"So, if we could only know for sure," Edward suggested, "exactly what she will become… then there would be no need for a council at all?"

"If there was some way to be absolutely sure," Aro agreed, his feathery voice slightly more shrill. He couldn't see where Edward was leading him. "Then, yes, there would be no question to debate."

"And we would part in peace, good friends once again?" Edward asked with a hint of irony.

Aro responded with more shrill voice. "Of course, my young friend. Nothing would please me more."

Edward chuckled exultantly. "Then I do have something more to offer."

Aro's eyes narrowed. "She is absolutely unique. Her future can only be guessed at."

"Not absolutely unique," Edward disagreed. "Rare, certainly, but not one of a kind."

"Hmmm can you please expound on that?" Aro said politely, seemingly with a perplexed expression on his face.

"Why don't you join us, Alice?" Edward called loudly.

"Alice," Aro breathed.

At that point Bella heard another group of approaching vampires running through the forest, flying, closing the distance as quickly as they could with no slowing effort at silence.

Both sides were motionless in expectation. The Volturi witnesses scowled in fresh confusion.

Then Alice danced into the clearing from the southwest, and Bella felt like the bliss of seeing her friend's face again might knock her off her feet. Jasper was only inches behind her, his sharp eyes fierce. Close after them ran three strangers; the first was a tall, muscular female with wild dark hair—obviously Kachiri. She had the same elongated limbs and features as the other Amazons, even more pronounced in her case.

The next was a small olive-toned female vampire with a long braid of black hair bobbing against her back. Her deep burgundy eyes flitted nervously around the confrontation before her.

And the last was a young man. Not quite as fast nor quite as fluid in his run. His skin was an impossible rich, dark brown. His wary eyes flashed across the gathering, and they were the color of warm teak. His hair was black and braided, too, like the woman's, though not as long.

As he neared them, a new sound sent shock waves through the watching crowd—the sound of another heartbeat, accelerated with exertion.

Alice leaped lightly and came to a sinuous stop at Edward's side. Bella reached out to touch her arm, and so did Edward, Esme, Carlisle. There wasn't time for any other welcome. Jasper and the others followed her through.

All the guard watched, speculation in their eyes. The brawny ones, Felix and the others like him, focused their suddenly hopeful eyes on Bella. They had not been sure of what her shield repelled, but it was clear now that it would not stop a physical attack. As soon as Aro gave the order, the blitz would ensue, her the only object.

Edward, despite his absorption in the coup he was directing, stiffened furiously in response to their thoughts. He controlled himself and spoke to Aro again. "Alice has been searching for her own witnesses these last weeks," he said to the ancient. "And she does not come back empty-handed. Alice, why don't you introduce the witnesses you've brought?"

Caius snarled. "The time for witnesses is past! Cast your vote, Aro!"

"Oh on the contrary. I think this is the perfect time to bring out a few more witnesses." Said a familiar voice that made the guards behind Aro taciturn and shake in fear while at the same time lighting up hope and victory to the eyes of the Cullen's and their allies.

Slowly, Aro turned his head to see a golden haired warrior looking at him with a rather sinister grin on his face while a bright aura of golden chakra seemingly areole on the latter like a fiery cloak. "Na…na…naruto?" He then stutteringly muttered in an unpleasant surprise.

"Naruto!" Bella exclaimed in joy.

"I thought you are…." Caius murmured. The sadistic grin on his face earlier wholly vanished and was replaced by an expression of trepidation and horror.

"Dead?" Naruto finished the latter's sentence. "Quite far from it, though I could guaranty the same for you Caius." He then said that made the vampire gulp.

"You dare!" Caius hissed to preserve some shred of his dignity but dare not do any action for he knew he's simply no match for the shinobi.

Aro raised one finger to silence his brother. After some interim of shock, his eyes were glued to Alice's face implying that he would hear what she's about to say.

Alice stepped forward lightly and introduced the strangers. "This is Huilen and her nephew, Nahuel."

Caius's eyes tightened as Alice named the relationship between the newcomers. The Volturi witnesses hissed amongst themselves. The vampire world was changing, and everyone could feel it.

"Speak, Huilen," Aro commanded. "Give us the witness you were brought to bear."

The slight woman looked to Alice nervously. Alice nodded in encouragement, and Kachiri put her long hand on the little vampire's shoulder.

"I am Huilen," the woman announced in clear but strangely accented English. As she continued, it was apparent she had prepared herself to tell this story, that she had practiced. It flowed like a well-known nursery rhyme. "A century and a half ago, I lived with my people, the Mapuche. My sister was Pire. Our parents named her after the snow on the mountains because of her fair skin. And she was very beautiful—too beautiful. She came to me one day in secret and told me of the angel that found her in the woods, that visited her by night. I warned her." Huilen shook her head mournfully. "As if the bruises on her skin were not warning enough. I knew it was the Libishomen of our legends, but she would not listen. She was bewitched."

"She told me when she was sure her dark angel's child was growing inside her. I didn't try to discourage her from her plan to run away—I knew even our father and mother would agree that the child must be destroyed, Pire with it. I went with her into the deepest parts of the forest. She searched for her demon angel but found nothing. I cared for her, hunted for her when her strength failed. She ate the animals raw, drinking their blood. I needed no more confirmation of what she carried in her womb. I hoped to save her life before I killed the monster.

"But she loved the child inside her. She called him Nahuel, after the jungle cat, when he grew strong and broke her bones—and loved him still.

"I could not save her. The child ripped his way free of her, and she died quickly, begging all the while that I would care for her Nahuel. Her dying wish—and I agreed.

"He bit me, though, when I tried to lift him from her body. I crawled away into the jungle to die. I didn't get far—the pain was too much. But he found me; the newborn child struggled through the underbrush to my side and waited for me. When the pain ended, he was curled against my side, sleeping.

"I cared for him until he was able to hunt for himself. We hunted the villages around our forest, staying to ourselves. We have never come so far from our home, but Nahuel wished to see the child here."

Huilen bowed her head when she was finished and moved back so she was partially hidden behind Kachiri.

Aro's lips were pursed. He stared at the dark-skinned youth. "Nahuel, you are one hundred and fifty years old?" he questioned.

"Give or take a decade," Nahuel answered in a clear, beautifully warm voice. His accent was barely noticeable. "We don't keep track."

"And you reached maturity at what age?" Marcus queried, with seeming curiosity on his whisper like voice.

"About seven years after my birth, more or less, I was full grown." Nahuel said facing his inquirer

"You have not changed since then?" Caius said nosily, taking the turn to ask some questions to the youth.

Nahuel shrugged. "Not that I've noticed."

At that point Bella felt a shudder tremble through Jacob's body. It would seem he didn't want to think about this yet.

"And your diet?" Aro pressed, seeming interested in spite of himself.

"Mostly blood, but some human food, too. I can survive on either." Nahuel answered as he faced the ancient once more.

"You were able to create an immortal?" As Aro gestured to Huilen, his voice was abruptly intense that made Bella temporarily edgy though her nerves were easily calmed as he saw Naruto and the latter smiled at her.

"Yes, but none of the rest can." Nahuel answered eliciting shocked murmurs to ran through all the listeners.

"The rest?" Aro's eyebrows shot up. "There are more?" He then thought.

"My sisters." Nahuel shrugged again.

Aro stared wildly for a moment before composing his face. "Perhaps you would tell us the rest of your story, for there seems to be more."

Nahuel frowned but was obliged to do what the latter asked. "My father came looking for me a few years after my mother's death." His handsome face distorted slightly. "He was pleased to find me." Nahuel's tone suggested that the feeling was not mutual. "He had two daughters, but no sons. He expected me to join him, as my sisters had.

"He was surprised I was not alone. My sisters are not venomous, but whether that's due to gender or a random chance… who knows? I already had my family with Huilen, and I was not interested"—he twisted the word—"in making a change. I see him from time to time. I have a new sister; she reached maturity about ten years back."

"Your father's name?" Caius asked through gritted teeth.

"Joham," Nahuel answered. "He considers himself a scientist. He thinks he's creating a new super-race." He made no attempt to disguise the disgust in his tone.

Caius looked at Bella. "Your daughter, is she venomous?" He then demanded harshly.

"Hey! Watch your tone guy." Naruto admonished while involuntarily projecting a blue tinted katar-like ethereal blade on his right hand that made the former momentarily taciturn. "This looks familiar." He thought as he inspected the weapon. Though of different hue, he recalled that it's the very same blade which Alex wielded against him during their confrontation on Isle Esme, and it would seem that its manifestation is prompted by some sort of emotional trigger. Then expending most of his willpower, he bade the incandescent blade to subside, which it did, evaporating like an eerie mist blown away by some strange wind, much to the relief of the silently edgy Volturi.

"Is your daughter venomous?" Caius asked again, this time in a much peaceable voice.

"No," Bella responded. Nahuel's head snapped up at the question and his teak eyes turned to bore into her face.

Caius looked to Aro for confirmation, but Aro was absorbed in his own thoughts. He pursed his lips and stared at Carlisle, and then Edward, and at last his eyes rested on Bella.

Aro stared into Bella's eyes for a long, tense moment. She had no idea what he was searching for, or what he found, but after he had measured her for that moment, something in his face changed, a faint shift in the set of his mouth and eyes, and she knew that he had made his decision.

"Brother," he said softly to Caius. "There appears to be no danger. This is an unusual development, but I see no threat. These half-vampire children are much like us, it appears."

"Is that your vote?" Caius demanded.

"It is." Aro answered with a nod.

Caius scowled. "And this Joham? This immortal so fond of experimentation?"

"Perhaps we should speak with him," Aro agreed.

"Stop Joham if you will," Nahuel said flatly. "But leave my sisters be. They are innocent."

Aro nodded, his expression solemn. And then he turned back to his guard with a warm smile.

"Dear ones," he called. "We do not fight today."

Naruto analyzed their expressions as Aro turned back to us. His face was as benign as ever, but unlike before, He sensed a strange blankness behind the façade. As if his scheming was over. Caius was clearly incensed, but his rage was turned inward now; he was resigned. Marcus looked… bored; there really was no other word for it.

The guard was impassive and disciplined again; there were no individuals among them, just the whole. They were in formation, ready to depart. The Volturi witnesses were still wary; one after another, they departed, scattering into the woods. As their numbers dwindled, the remaining sped up. Soon they were all gone.

Aro held his hands out to us, almost apologetic. Behind him, the larger part of the guard, along with Caius, Marcus, and the silent, mysterious wives, were already drifting quickly away, their formation precise once again. Only the three that seemed to be his personal guardians lingered with him.

"I'm so glad this could be resolved without violence," he said sweetly. "My friend, Carlisle—how pleased I am to call you friend again! I hope there are no hard feelings. I know you understand the strict burden that our duty places on our shoulders."

"Leave in peace, Aro," Carlisle said stiffly. "Please remember that we still have our anonymity to protect here, and keep your guard from hunting in this region."

Aro nodded, however before he left he looked at the shinobi. "There is a change in you friend Naruto. It would seem that you have found peace as well." He then said.

"I have." Naruto smiled as he and the vampire nodded at each with respect.

Soon Aro also strode swiftly along with the remaining Volturi and disappeared in to the woods.

Everyone cheered in rapturous victory. Edward and Bella kissed with such passion while Irina who mistakenly reported to the Volturi was forgiven and welcomed back without any hesitation. All seems to be fine now, except for Vladimir and Stefan who seemed to have dissatisfied frowns on both their faces, when suddenly a familiar shrill voice reverberated into the forest.

"Naruto!" The angry stentorian voice one again thundered that made chills run through the shnibobi's spine.

"I completely forgot about this…" Naruto gasped in a frightened, breathy muttering while a distant blank stare of trepidation was visibly engrained on his assure eyes as from the gloomy thicket of the forest came charging a white wolf in to the shinobi's direction.

"Oh boy, you're dead dude." Emmett quipped with a wide amused smile on face.

"Thanks for the emotional support you jerk." Naruto retorted that made his sibling chuckle in a loud belly laugh.

Soon the wolf impended upon the blonde with preternatural celerity then pounced at him with such violent force that he was trodden down to the icy ground.

"Where have you been!" The white wolf telepathically reproached, baring her fangs at him.

"Hi there Leah…." Naruto replied with a nervous squeaky voice.

"Four months Naruto!" Leah growled harshly, cutting off the blonde before he could utter another word. "You disappeared for four damn months without so much of a word!"

"Sorry" Naruto said awkwardly, not able to think of anything else to say.

"I….I was so worried. I thought I won't see you again." Leah said telepathically with eyes welling up in tears as she placed her head on the shinobi's chest.

"I promise. I won't leave you again." Naruto smiled then spoke in a voice of heartfelt equanimity as he hugged Leah back.

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(The Foundation – Area 51 Headquarters)

"As a species, we have been around for the last two hundred and fifty thousand years. Though only the last four thousand years has been of any significance." Agent Smith said astutely as he briefed the newest recruit, Lieutenant Edmund Ford; a decorated marine as well as a combat hardened soldier, and the only one who passed the Foundation's rigorous screening and recruitment process from his batch. "For a quarter of a million years our ancestors hid in caves and huddled around small fires, fearful of things and certain creatures that dwelt in darkness. These creatures were, at the time, beyond their comprehension and so they called them gods and demons, and so worshipped them out of fear." He then elucidated as they walked the long a concrete corridor inside the great edifice.

"Permission to speak, sir." Lt. Ford said in a manner of a strictly disciplined soldier addressing his immediate superior.

"No need for such military formalities lieutenant." Agent Smith said as he simpered in amusement. "Go ahead."

"I think you've chosen the wrong man for the job Agent Smith. Based on what you said earlier it would seem you need an archeologist not a soldier." Lt. Ford said in a rigid tone, expressing his confusion but not necessarily breaking his composure.

To this agent Smith chuckled. "Do you believe in the paranormal lieutenant?" He then inquired sporadically that caught the soldier off guard as they reached the end of the corridor.

"Like vampires, werewolves and stuff?" Lt. Ford replied, eyeing his interlocutor with a confused gaze.

"hmmm generally yes." Agent Smith said as he reached for his ID card on his suit's front pocket.

"No" Lt. Ford succinctly responded, regaining back his composure.

"Let's see." Agent Smith retorted acerbically with a rather sinister grin on his face as he swiped the ID card in to the wall port engendering the heavy metal door in front of them to slide open with an ominous creaking from its hidden inner mechanisms.

It was almost sublime how the expression on Lt. Ford's faces transformed from inexpressive to that of shock and fear as the doors fully opened, revealing the horrors behind it. "What….what the hell is this?" He stutteringly muttered as the pupils of his eyes could only widen in aghast seeing the strange and uncouth creatures, along with eldritch things or abominations locked behind a series of containment chambers under heavy guard.

"Gods and demons, my friend." Agent Smith replied in a voice that's was partially jocular and wholly mordant, seemingly being rapidly interlaced with that of a serious foreboding. "Come, you have much to see." He then beckoned the latter.

"As you may have already surmised, the creatures inside each containment chamber are anomalies the Foundation has acquired over the years." The senior agent then continued in a mellow flowing but grave voice. "We are an organization operating clandestine and worldwide, empowered and entrusted by every major national government with a task of containing anomalous objects, entities and phenomena. The Foundation operates to maintain normalcy, so that the worldwide civilian population can live and go on with their daily lives without fear, mistrust, or doubt in their personal beliefs and to maintain human independence from extraterrestrial, extradimensional , and extranormal influences."

On the other hand however, Lt. Ford can't vouchsafe a word much less utter any reply. Still processing inside his head the sheer fact that things he knew only in fiction really does exist, and for a second he doubted even his own sanity in seeing these things with his very eyes."

"Are you okay boy?" Agent smith inquired rhetorically as he remembered the time his superior back then gave him a tour of the facility and the first time he saw its eldritch wonders. "Lot to absorb ain't it?"

"Im sorry did you say something." Lt. Ford replied in bewilderment, just snapping out of his of his deep and intensely focused contemplation.

To this agent Smith could no longer contain himself and chortled amusedly. "Well….no worries boy. Everyone has that same expression on their faces the first time they stepped here."

"I would imagine so." Lt. Ford could only rejoin in a hollow, distracted voice as he tried to focus his vision on one of the creatures who looked humanoid but covered completely in reptilian scales and has the head of a dragon; and on its mouth poured a stream of heavy white mist that could have easily reacted with the water vapors in the air, engendering globules of a highly concentrated and mordant acid to form which was more than enough to burn everyone if it isn't for the fact that the creature was hermetically sealed in a chamber whose filters are lined with special reagents that rendered its corrosive breath inert.

"Don't stare at him. He hates it." Agent Smith whispered that caused the lieutenant to quickly avert his gaze. "Hah, just kidding! No worries boy. Just go ahead and eye that dumb beast all you want, he ain't getting out of his jar." He then chuckled in annoying hilarity, earning the scowl of his companion.

"What hell." Lt. Ford thought as he grumbled silently but was cutoff before he could voice out his irritation.

"You mentioned about vampires earlier lieutenant. Do you believe in vampires?" Agent Smith inquired, the sinister grin on his face widened a little.

Not knowing if it's part of the facility tour or one of his superior's sick practical jokes, Lieutenant Ford summoned all the composure he could muster and replied impassively. "I'll believe it when I see it."

"Well, it would seem you're in luck." Agent Smith said as he placed his hand on the biometric scanner mounted on to the wall. Soon, the door in front of them slid open; revealing a room with a one way observation mirror in the middle of the chamber, and on the other side of the said chamber is an archeological and bio-lab combined where scientists busily examine a curious looking sarcophagus wrought of heavy, unrusted iron and was covered in ancient arcane glyphs. "You see lieutenant vampires are as real as you and me….and inside that thing is the granddaddy of them all. The progenitor of that accursed race….the first immortal, so to speak."

"Ah agent Smith, I can't help but notice you gallivanting in my laboratory again." A lanky man with a thick eastern European accent greeted jovially as he smilingly approached the two.

"Dr. Oleksandr Moskvin, been a while. Just giving the new kid a tour of the facility." Agent Smith greeted back. "How's it going with our friend over there?" He then continued, pertaining to the inert vampire lord being examined by Dr. Moskvin's team.

"Fascinating" The doctor replied in a rather eager voice. Brainwave scans detected gamma waves, similar to that of a person in deep sleep." He then explained eruditely.

"That's a hell of a sleep." Lt. Ford muttered involuntarily.

"Indeed" Dr. Moskvin concurred. "We found the sarcophagus in a small, remote village near the borders of Greece and Turkey; in a cave where the locals generally avoid, and the sheep herders care not to bring their flock….due to a superstition of evil lurking on that place" He then said in a poetic manner as if narrating a horror movie but he was suddenly severed from his musings when he noticed the two gawking at him awkwardly like jocks eyeing a weird nerd.

"Well anyways…" The doctor cleared his throat as he regained some of his composure and spoke in a more matter-of-fact voice. "Here's the really interesting part. The sarcophagus itself is wrought of iron alloyed with Chromium and an as of yet unidentified metallic element." He then said enthusiastically though the childlike wonder on his face drooped as he saw the two agents in front of him with a somewhat mystified expressions on their faces.

"Chromium" Agent Smith said crisply in a well-disguised composure of a pokerfaced façade, trying to sound interested in what the weird nerd in front of him is talking about.

"Yes, Chromium…..the sarcophagus is made of some kind of ultra-durable stainless steel alloy that is beyond our modern metallurgy." Dr. Moskvin said with an incredulous voice and a raised brow of condescension towards the agent. "That's only one of the many interesting things about it. Scans suggest that inside the sarcophagus is yet another coffin made of an unknown material and is suspended in mercury. Also, we've analyzed the Greco-Bactrian inscriptions on both the sarcophagus and on the antechamber where we originally found it, and four words keep popping up every time. In modern English these words are roughly translated to 'vampire', 'king', 'originator' and 'Carnamagos'."

"Carnamagos?" Lt. Ford inquired with a somewhat mystified expression on his face, completely stumped what the word means.

"Apparently, it's his name." Dr. Moskvin elucidated with an astute composure of a deeply learned scholar.

"What I've told ya boy….the granddaddy of all vampires." Agent Smith said supplemented.

"Well, yes. So to speak." Dr. Moskvin concurred. "At the moment, the Director has already given us permission to open-up the sarcophagus and examine the mummy inside." He then said ecstatically as he saw the laser drill being brought by some of his team members to open up the sealed sarcophagus.

"Isn't that dangerous." Lt. Ford muttered in a low voice that was audible enough for both the senior agent and the head researcher in front of him to hear.

"We know what we're doing." Dr. Moskvin was quick to counter, subsequently instructing one of his subordinates to begin the process by activating he laser. "And besides, it's not the first time were studying a vampire. We've captured a vampire specimen before. We knew that vampires die from hunger approximately two months of being bereft of sustenance. This guy has been in that box for at least two thousand years now. Aside from what we discussed earlier, scans don't indicate any activity at all….." He then continued but was cut short.

While the doctor spoke a beam of intense light shone and burned itself in to the surface of the sarcophagus, undoing its ancient seals. But even before the latter could finish his dissertation-like statement the heavy metallic lid of the sarcophagus was suddenly upheaved then flew violently in to a far corner of the laboratory, crushing one unfortunate scientist beneath its immense weight as it brutally impacted her.

Upon closer inspection it was all too evident that the lid was shattered from within as if by use of some superhuman force. Soon an eerie ethereal mist arose from the sarcophagus, speedily filling up the room. For a moment, desperate screams of pain and anguish echoed behind the bulletproof glass from the scientists trapped on the other side but the voices was soon drowned in an unsettling silence as their owners ceased to exist.

"What have we done….." With horror filled eyes, Dr. Moskvin muttered breathily in aghast.

"All units, this is Agent Smith, we have a containment breach in sector Delta. This is not a drill, repeat this is not a….." Agent Smith scrambled on his communicator but he wasn't able to finish his call for alarm as he instantly dropped dead on the floor, or what's left of him at least. For the agent is now a dried up husk, drained of blood and any bodily fluids for that matter, what remained of him looked like a mummy that has been shriveled and shrunken by the passing of harsh centuries.

"Oh my god!" Dr. Moskvin shrieked as he tried to run but wasn't even able to cross the door's threshold for he was also smitten by the unknown entity and in just under a split second he too shared the fate of Agent Smith.

It would seem that the so called progenitor of vampirekind not only consumes the blood of other living beings but also devours the very essence of life itself, causing its victims to mummify in seconds and then crumble to dust soon after.

Lt. Edmund Ford has been in many battles and not in a single one of them he felt any sort of fear. However, facing such an abominable creature of the shadows has chilled the very marrow of his spine and petrified him from head to toe, not even able to utter a single word out of dire trepidation.

"I'm sorry. I was just so very thirsty." A somewhat angelic, whisper-like voice echoed in to the room that made the lieutenant slowly turn his head in to its origins, only to see a rather extraordinarily beautiful androgynous boy in his late teens that was garbed in a murex dyed Greco-Roman robe of ocean purple, he looked like a finely sculpted statue of pure white marble or semi-translucent alabaster; and behind those blood red lips of his were a set of two small sharp teeth that were like daggers in lieu of his canines and first premolars.

"Wha…what are you." Lt. Ford muttered stutteringly as trickle by trickle he regained some courage, pointing his pistol to the creature.

The boy looked at him and smiled with an innocent and angelic but still quite sinister beam. "How interesting." He said with childlike wonder, sifting through the memories and complexities of those he just fed upon. "The language of the Anglo-Saxons. Never did it cross my mind that one day it will be the world's lingua franca. I always thought it would be Latin or at the very least French. Britannia and Frisia weren't the most civilized place in my time, you see." He then shrugged, never parting with that grin on his face.

Can't take it any longer Lt. Ford pulled the trigger of his gun, aiming at the strange boy in front of him. However, to his shock when the latter caught the bullet between his thumb and index finger then curiously scrutinized the slightly distorted brass projectile with such amusement.

"Metal projectiles accelerated through a ridged barrel from the energy generated by the combustion of an explosive compound. How fascinating! It would seem that science has prevailed over sorcery, and technology has advanced in some interesting ways while I was asleep." The boy said as he slowly glided towards the soldier who wasn't able to move from where he stood, as if his feet were moored to the ground.

"What are you?" Lt. Ford inquired with a half stuttering voice as his entire life flashed over his eyes.

The strange creature didn't care to answer the question but the sinister grin on his face widened. Then performing a strange gesture he engendered the soldier's left arm to rise involuntarily, extending the latter's hand towards him with an open palm as if the latter was a puppet being controlled by invisible strings.

"Are you going to kill me!" Lt. Ford reverberated loudly in despair but to his surprise when the vampire lord in front of him gently dropped on his open palm the bullet he fired earlier.

"No." The creature replied casually then melted upon to the air like smoke, vanishing without a trace.

At that very moment heavily armed Foundation guards stormed the entrance. But they found no trace of the strange creature, only mounds of gray dusts that were human beings just earlier and a half insane lieutenant who at the moment has a blank stare in his eyes while his lips mumbled loosely as if in prayer.

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(Port Angeles – One Week Later)

"Wow…If I knew earlier that you'll bring me to a restaurant this fancy I could've dressed a little bit more appropriately." Leah said as she sneaks a peak every now and then at the ambiance of the luxury restaurant their dining at, watching as a waiter skillfully flambé some mango in front of them.

"You look perfect the way you are." Naruto said poetically, taking her fiancé's hand then kissing it gently.

"I don't know what happened to you during your four months of absence…..but I must admit I like it." Leah replied with a flirting smile on her face.

"I'm yours, forever." Naruto replied in an aesthetically pleasing voice as he continued to kiss her hand.

"Ok, too much." Leah said in a deadpan voice and with a raised brow. "Dial it down a notch lover boy."

"Oh come on Leah!" Naruto resounded hysterically, having his composure shattered by her fiancé's reaction. "Do you think you're the only one uncomfortable with this romantic, Shakespeare crap statement? What if I'm just about to propose to you huh?" He then continued, reverting back to his boisterous personality.

"What? You're going to propose or something?" Leah inquired with a somewhat mystified but hopeful expression on her face.

"Well…." Naruto began "….it is possible." He then muttered in a whisper-like voice.

"Oh really." Leah began. Judging from the constricted tenor of her voice and the vexed expression on her face it would seem that the blonde's immaturity has ignited a great fire of irritation inside her.

"Ok Leah…calm down." Naruto said stutteringly, trying to defuse the situation but was too late as the former eyed him with a rather freezing glare.

"Of all the people proposing, you're the only angry one!" Leah roared that caught the attention of the other diners.

"Leah, people staring." Naruto said in a squeaky voice, trying to appease his fiancé's wrath by appealing to her reason.

"I don't give a damn about them!" Leah growled in a fit of momentary lycanthropic rage though calmed down shortly after realizing she's making a seen. "I don't care about them Naruto" She then supplemented in a much hushed but still enraged tone/

"Ok deep breaths." Naruto said while exhaling and inhaling in an attempt to abate the latter's fiery temper.

"Its ok…Im ok now." Leah sighed

"Are you sure?" Naruto inquired hesitantly.

"I said Im ok!" Leah thundered with an infernal gaze directed at the shinobi.

"Ok" Naruto blenched, comically replying to his fiancé's roar with a scared, squeak like voice akin to a mouse that walked in to barn expecting food but instead found a thousand bloodlusted demon-cats glaring at it.

"I'm sorry." Leah sighed the second time. "I'm just having this terrible mood swings lately."

"I'm sorry too Leah." Naruto said in a somewhat pensive voice and with a distance stare in his eyes. "I should've been with you, with or baby….." He then said but was cutoff when Leah gently placed her index finger on his lips.

"It's over now. There is a lifetime ahead of us to make up for that four months you were gone." She then said with a gentle smile, looking directly at the shinobi's eyes.

Realizing that there isn't a more perfect opportunity Naruto bent down in one knee and took Leah's hand. "Leah" He then said.

"Yes Naruto." Leah said in an anxious but hopeful voice. The pupils of her eyes widened with a starry gleam, knowing that her fiancé is about to propose.

"Leah I..I" Naruto said confidently at first but cold chills ran down his spine as he reached on his suit's left pocket with his other hand. "Oh crap, I forgot the ring." He then thought with a comical but rather uncomfortable and constipated countenance on his face.

"Is something wrong Naruto? What are you about to say?" Leah inquired and at the same time giving Naruto a little bit of boost.

"Leah…I….I need to pee." Naruto then said then quickly darted towards the comfort room as he saw how the rage quickly rose on to Leah's face as soon as she heard the statement.

"What happened to that young man?" Said an old man as he sipped some coffee. He along with his wife was celebrating their forty-fifth anniversary and was sitting near Leah and Naruto's table, watching the young couple fondly as the latter was about to take the first step on tying the knot.

"Obviously he lost his balls on the last minute." The wife answered sardonically in a jaded voice that made her flummoxed husband involuntarily spat his coffee in a comical manner to the face of an equally shocked waiter handing them their bill.

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Awkwardly, Naruto materialized in to the restaurant's restroom. "That was a close shave." He then sighed, teleporting from his room to get the engagement ring he forgot earlier then returned to the restaurant's cloakroom in the same manner.

However, the shinobi's eyes widened as he saw that inside the empty cubicle he left earlier was an old geezer siting on the toilet, pants down and was about to do his business. "Where did you come from sonny?" The old man bewilderingly queired.

"Oh, jeez…I'm so sorry gramps." Naruto awkwardly blabbered, while at the same time immediately got out of the cubicle.

A storm of confusion and awkwardness brewed at the shamefaced Naruto as he pondered the embarrassing accident. "Hey wait a minute" The shinobi thought in a moment of clarity as all the awkwardness evaporated.

He recollected the fact that he made sure the cubicle door was locked when he left and he was only gone for two minutes at most. Also, by design, the said door could only be opened from the inside once it has been locked, and it would seem to be of no logical measure that the old man will exert an exorbitant amount of effort to crawl beneath the narrow opening of each cubicle nor mount the gaps above just to do his business at that particular chamber.

At that point he realized that the old man wasn't an ordinary human being but a creature from the shadows. "Ok, shows over. Get out of there." Naruto said in a mirthless voice while glaring at the cubicle door. There was no answer however, as if the creature masquerading as a senile elder is mocking the shinobi with sardonic mockery.

"I said get out!" Naruto roared. Forming his right hand in to a seal of confrontation he then cast a wide-area compulsion genjustsu to shield the other customer's senses from the ruckus, while his left hand coruscated with an azure glow from the radiating chakra as he slammed it on the cubicle's door which instantly crumbled. However, as the last fragments of the wooden panel came down and became dust he saw that no one is inside.

"Looking for something, boy?" A familiar voice said that made Naruto quickly turned to its origins.

However, the mirthless and deathly countenance on the shinobi's face was almost instantly replaced with a comical expression of awkward displeasure as he saw that it was the old man indeed, still with his pants down.

"Geez gramps! At least put on some pants dude!" Naruto protested in an uncomfortable voice, covering his eyes and nearly about to puke from the inappropriate view dangling in front of him.

The old man then chuckled. "Ah just some humor to lighten things up." He then said as he pulled his trousers up.

"Just who the hell are you?" Naruto said in an awkwardly hysterical voice.

"Ah kids this days…" The old man sighed "….no longer know how to respect their elders." He then continued.

"Well the stuff you just pulled earlier wasn't very respectful either isn't it?" Naruto reverberated, doing a childish akanbe at his interlocutor. "Besides, for all we know I may even be thousands of years older than you." He then thought.

"Not quite." The old man smirked as if in response to the shinobi's thoughts. "I was there when your people still cannot distinguish themselves from animals; I was there that day when the Morning Star saw great promise in your species and lifted humans from the dirt through the gift of free will; I witnessed how you murdered him, your own protector, and caused all this mess. I saw how you tormented the demigod in to a slow insanity that caused the death of millions. The blade you so arrogantly brandished earlier is a gift to him from me. You stole it, thief."

"Who…who the hell are you?" Naruto stuttered for a second.

"You think you're a hero? You're not. You're merely a foolish pawn with delusions of grandeur in a cruel game played by the uncaring macrocosmic gods of the outer-realm and the cunning demons of the infinite abysses. And the day shall come, foolish boy, that the nightmares you've created will eventually come after and get you." The old man responded in a tone of derisive sarcasm that pinched away on the shinobi's pride and haunted his sanity.

For moment Naruto was taciturn, contemplating on the words of the mysterious stranger in front of him. "Ok listen you old geezer…or whatever you are." He then reverberated as he regained his composure. "First of all, it didn't steal anything. It was given to me as a parting gift from a friend. Second, just who the hell you think you are to accuse me of crap like that huh?"

"If you want to know the truth, look in to the mirror. Its reflection will reveal everything." The stranger replied cryptically in a voice that is no longer that of an old man but was echoing and harsh like the reverberating peal of thunder from the heavens, then like a phantasmagorical dream the latter dematerialized with a flash of blinding bright light like a dying star at the time of its culmination.

"Look at the mirror. What the hell does that mean?" Naruto muttered in befuddlement, contemplating the cryptic meaning of the enigmatic riddle. Then the urgent thought of Leah's safety pierced his mind with painful awareness like a sharp dagger thrusting in to tender flesh as he stormed out of the restroom and went directly to their table.

"Is something the matter Naruto?" Leah said somewhat confused, her annoyance of the blonde has wholly subsided upon seeing the deathly serious expression on his face.

"We're leaving." Naruto replied succinctly in a foreboding voice as he gestured to one of the waiters for the check.

"Naruto….what's going on?" Leah inquired in a nervous voice.

"I'll explain later…let's get out of hear." The blonde replied, no longer able wait for the waiter to convey their tab he took his wallet and placed three hundred dollars on the table, a more than sufficient compensation for their meal and a generous tip altogether. Grabbing Leah by the arm, he then left the restaurant with her in a precipitate flight from the lurking and unseen clutches of that mysterious stranger.

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(Voltera – Italy)

Considering the events that recently transpired, it goes without saying that the scowl on Caius's face was a little bit more deeply graven on his stone like countenance than usual.

"Something the matter, brother?" Aro questioned though he already knew the reason behind the latter's sour disposition.

"Nothing that can be helped with." Caius said in a respectful tone though with gritted teeth.

"Is this about the Cullens?" Marcus supplemented Aro's question with yet another inquiry in a jaded and whisper like voice that made Caius more incensed.

"Isn't that obvious?" Caius sniffed

"Do not be too vengeful for it may lead to your own undoing someday." Marcus replied at the remark in the same cold and perfunctory voice he always sport.

"Is that a threat?" Caisus roared while projecting a glare of rabid intensity at the latter that would've made any other vampire felt uneasy.

Slowly, Marcus turned his head to his irate colleague. "That is an advise." He then said aloofly that somehow calmed the latter and made him sit back on his throne.

"Brothers, let's not fight amongst ourselves." Aro interceded, speaking in a soft voice, placing his hand on Caius's shoulder to further calm the latter.

"My, my…..I don't know what to make of this scene. The three of you bickering like children." A disembodied voice said in a rare dialect of ancient Greek that few of the vampires understood but stabbed in to their soul with exquisite pain as the words seemed to writhe like fire in to the air, burning in to their minds.

"That voice…." Marcus muttered loosely in an airy muttering. It would seem that the usual uninterested and jaded expression on his face was replaced with that of a sudden realization of horror from a close impending doom as he recognized the dreadful owner of the voice.

"It can't be…." Caius said in the same manner.

"Be still you two!" Aro admonished strongly, though in a hushed voice that was interlaced with the same trepidation his brothers felt at that very moment.

Steadily, the Volturi's great hall became bleak as artic ice and the air congealed and curdled from an unseen but palpable fear.

"Master Carnamagos…" Aro said in a trembling voice as if supplicating for mercy.

"Aro….." The voice answered in a cadence that was soft and yet foreboding as a viper's his. Then from the darkest part of the great hall, amidst the intersecting shadows of great columns, there opened two ancient green eyes that directed its glare to the leaders of the coven. "It has been a while. I'm glad to see my three favorite disciples."

"Ma…" Aro tried to speak in reply but was cutoff and wasn't even able to finish his first word.

"I do seem to remember that my specific instruction to you was to awaken me every five hundred years so that I could assess the delicate balance of things." The one referred to as Master Carnamagos by the leaders of the Volturi once again spoke in a voice that thundered and rolled in to infinite foreboding echoes across the great hall. "Now, it's either my math is a little bit off or there is perfidy on your part because the last time I counted I was in hibernation for the last two thousand years."

"Master I could explain." Aro appealed in a humble voice.

"Very well, I would love to hear your explanation on this one." Carnamagos replied as he revealed his true form, eliciting mixed reactions from the elite guards seeing their masters tremble from what looked like an unassuming and harmless boy in his late teens.

"Master, please forgive us for our tardiness. All these years we're preparing the world for your arrival and engineering events that would ultimately benefit us all." Aro said, though he struggled to fabricate a premise he was ultimately able to deliver it ingeniously and in a beguiling manner of an almost truthful sincerity that would've deceived anyone.

"In that case my dear Aro, apology accepted." Carnamgos smiled in a somewhat enigmatic manner.

"Thank you for your generosity my lord." Aro sighed in relief.

"You always impress with such well-crafted lies." Carnamgos said in English as his eyes suddenly glowed with white incandescence. "But unfortunately there is a price that must be paid. I have to educate the younger ones about the terrible price that treachery entails. The decision I am now faced with….whom shall bear the penalty among you three?" He then continued in a tone of sardonic cruelty as he contemplatively placed his hand on his chin and directed his vision towards the three sovereign vampires.

Marcus would've gladly sacrificed himself without any hesitation, not because he wanted to save his peers from certain obliteration but just simply because he's been weary of living since the death of his beloved mate, Didyme. However before he could do anything, Caius subtly gestured to Felix, ordering the brawny vampire to finish the ancient while its back was turned.

With reluctance Felix obeyed and lunged himself at Carnamagos. The attack however wasn't able to connect for he was repelled by an invisible force with an indolent flick of the ancient's wrist, causing him to be thrown a good distance away from the point of origin and crash in to one of the stone pilasters of the great hall.

He wasn't given any chance to retaliate, for by virtue of the elder vampire's dark and malignant lore, his lungs were instantly filled with black, tarry, vitriolic bile that oozed violently from his mouth and nostrils. Dreadfully, though vampires like Felix no longer need to breath; he coughed, hacked and vomited the stygian goo like a mere mortal afflicted by a dire and pernicious malady, struggling for life with every rasping breath in a horrible existence of fevered delusions and racking pain.

Everyone was frozen in horror while Carnamagos grinned in cacodemoniacal mirth at the Volturi guard's folly. "Anyone else have something stupid in mind?" He then inquired and turned his gaze to Caius who purveyed the attack.

"Master…..have mercy…please." Caius petitioned stutteringly in fear but wasn't able to continue his plea for his tongue became rigid and he froze where he sat in tetanic agony.

"Thank you for volunteering Caius. If it will give you any solace, know that your fate is not without purpose. For it shall serve a valuable lesson for to all who will witness it…..the price of treachery is an extremely unpleasant death." Carnamagos said in an eerie voice followed by uttering strange antediluvian runes in an unknown language that issued from his mouth like thunders of the upper heavens.

And in an answer to the hiss like runes, a sort of nimbus shrouded the paralyzed and helpless Caius who sat stiffly erect, it glowed and flickered in a strange light; and the vampires who saw him thought that his clothes were on fire.

Aro gasped while the usually uninterested expression on Marcus's countenance was replaced with pure horror.

At that moment the weird nimbus brightened intolerably, and the wan early moonlight coming from the slits on the high ceiling and the electric lights that still burned to attest the night's labor, were alike blotted out. It seemed to the frightened guards that something had gone wrong with the great hall itself; for the walls and pillars vanished, and a great, luminous gulf opened before them; and on the verge of the gulf, in a seat that was not a cushioned throne but a huge and rough-hewn seat of stone, they beheld their master stark and rigid.

His regal garments were gone, and about him, from head to foot, were blinding coils of pure white fire, in the form of linked chains. They could not endure the brilliance of the chains, and cowering back, they shielded their eyes with their hands. When they dared to look again, the weird glowing had faded, the room was as usual; and Caius's motionless figure was seated at the throne in the posture of immense pain, his fingers clenched on the arm chair. Anon, the smell of a human arose from beneath his clothes, which were wholly intact and without visible trace of fire.

Carnamagos grinned evilly in the same manner of sorcerer that successfully weaved the blasphemous invocations of supreme and lycanthropic malice that took the form of dire pestilence and wholesale demonic incursions.

Then with a flick of the ancient's wrist Caius's arms were wounded to their deepest veins but the blood didn't drip on the floor nor on the throne were he sat. Instead, the crimson fluid was suspended in to the air in globules as if defying the laws of gravity. All the while, the smell of human blood triggered the predatory instincts of the vampires in the vicinity.

"Master, I beg you. Please don't do this!" Aro protested and pleaded for his brother's life.

"Silence!" Carnamagos hissed in response to the latter's supplication; his left hand was gradually engulfed in an iridescent aura of fiery golden energy as he made a strange gesture, bringing his index finger and thumb together, and gliding his hand gracefully in a horizontal motion.

Strangely, Aro felt that his lips have been fastened together like velcro and suddenly lost the power to form speech; only muffled, unintelligible sound came out of his sealed mouth in protest of his predicament.

Then with another strange gesture from the ancient, Caius was dragooned in front of the other vampires.

"Get back! Get away from me!" Caius roared in desperation as his own underlings leered with an open intention to prey on him. He knew that his fate was already sealed and decided to spend the final moments of his life to take a glance at his brothers, Aro and Marcus, for one last time as he prepared himself for the inexorable and impending doom.

Then at that moment the Volturi guards, who can no longer resist the hypnotic spell of their former master's gushing blood, gave in to their thirst and devoured him like wild animals, draining every drop of the live giving fluid while Aro and Caius can't do anything but watch in abject terror.

Then with yet another strange gesticulation from Carnamagos the blood globules of the former that was suspended in the air turned in to a red mist which he then subsequently consumed, apathetically absorbing Caius's memories in one cohesive vision.

However, as the ancient sifted through the latter's memories the impassive expression on his countenance changed a little in to that of eager curiosity as he saw Naruto in the vision, though that enthusiasm faded and was replaced with that of aghast and unpleasantness as he saw the part where the shinobi and Leah is soon expecting a child.

"This can't be." He muttered to himself as he shook his head like that of a person who thinks aloud. "You should have awoken me much sooner." He then turned his gaze to the remaining Volturi sovereigns and spoke in a voice of melancholy reproof.

 **-End**

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 **Hey there folks!**

 **Wow it has been a while since I updated the story. I do owe you my dear readers a thousand apologies for that. I know, I know, you guys are expecting a big fight like that in the movies but no worries the following chapters will be filled with that. To those who are wondering, this would be the final arc (composed of 3 chapters [chapter 31,32 & 33) of our story followed by a 2 chapter finale (and maybe a teaser for a sequel as some of you requested).**

 **Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy reading!**

 **Cheerio!**


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